Pilots and Professors
by jbn42
Summary: When a new Aeronautics professor meets a well-loved Military History professor and test-pilot, they discover a shared history and a gift for irritating the heck out of each other. They both have a lot of baggage, and neither is sure that they'll be able to open themselves up again. Star Wars: TLJ AU
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So yeah, a TLJ AU. This is obviously NOT related to my Connections series (yes, still working on Defining Balance too) – just something fun (with some angst etc). What can I say, I've been flying a lot for a trip this week, and planes sort of got in my head… POV does change between them.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

As the young woman packs up her small apartment in a northern Los Angeles suburb, her thoughts wander. In the grand scheme of things, Rey Kenobi knows that the change she is making is for the best. After losing both her parents and then her guardian and being sent to live with his friends Han and Leia Solo at the age of five, she'd made the transition from Londoner to New Englander in a heartbeat.

Despite the physical distance it created between her and her adopted family, almost five years ago she'd left for California, where she has spent her time finishing her Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering after completing her Bachelor's degree in the northeast. The tightness of her schedule and the demanding nature of her degree program mean that she has spent precious little time back east since coming to California.

But she's moving home now, back to the small Connecticut town where she grew up. Only an hour and change from New York City, there is a small technology-driven university where they are in need of a new professor to teach Aeronautics while also working on getting papers and research published. They offered Rey the job last month, and she plans to be there in coastal Connecticut in a few days to work up the course outlines for the classes she'll be teaching and to get re-acquainted with the school where she spent summers and holidays following her Uncle Luke around as he ran the library on campus.

She isn't exactly thrilled to be heading back to the northeast, but she misses her family and, unbelievably, the turn of the seasons, even winter. She has a new Jeep waiting for her, one bought for her by Leia, who is happy to have her coming home. Her adopted brother, Leia and Han's only biological child, is also in the area, but he is centered in New York where he works as an investment banker.

Rey shakes her head when she thinks of Ben Solo. He never understood her interest in flying and science. He tried repeatedly to convince her to put her facility with numbers "to good use" by studying Finance, but she had been wholly uninterested. He has been somewhat surly with her since she declined to follow his advice and direction, so much so that even Han and Leia had to shout him down about it. She feels bad that she somehow caused a rift in the family, but her Han and Leia tell her that it's not her fault that, in Leia's words, "My son can be a real jackass when he wants to."

One thing she's truly happy about is that her childhood best friend, Finn Storm, who she'd bonded with over their shared status as an orphan, is back in Connecticut after a stint in the Air Force. He and his girlfriend Rose both live in a nearby town where they operate a small airfield that Rose inherited. It's where her new employer does a lot of test flights, so the fact that she'll see her friends often is highly appealing.

She isn't leaving anyone behind here – of the two boyfriends she had here, both turned out to be real jerks, one cheating on her with not one but two of his colleagues in the Physics program at her grad school and the other who thought it was a good idea to hit her now and then. It had taken more nows and thens than she likes to acknowledge for the latter relationship to end, and she'd had to punctuate it with a restraining order. It had taken a fair amount of effort to convince Han that killing the guy wasn't worth the jail time.

She tapes up the last box and looks around. She'll miss her little studio apartment. For now, she's moving back to Han and Leia's house that sits close to the water on the Connecticut shore, and she looks forward to mornings on the beach or paddle boarding the river near their home. Specifically, she's moving into the garage apartment that Han and Leia built a few years ago, a studio space not entirely unlike this one. It has a view of the Sound and the woods, and she looks forward to spending hours reading in the window seat in the living area.

The movers will be here soon, taking the few things she's accumulated to ship back home. All she's carrying on to the plane is a mailing tube with some schematics she has been working on and her backpack with her tablet and laptop. Other than that, her suitcase that she'll check waits in her bedroom, ready for the flight that will take her from LAX to JFK, a red-eye that will bring her back home to a new challenge that is daunting but something she also relishes.

X X X X

Adjusting the flaps, retired Air Force Captain Poe Dameron brings the jet prototype in for a landing at the small airfield in south central Connecticut. He's talking to the small tower on the headset he wears, giving them a quick report on how the jet handled in some low maneuvers out over the eastern end of the Long Island Sound to the edges of the open Atlantic. The plane is solid but a little sluggish, and he's trying to make some mental notes about its performance.

He has done a lot of test flights here, and he knows the airport approach like the back of his hand. In seconds, he's safely on the ground and taxiing to the hangar. He'll meet with the plane's designer, Dr. Gial Ackbar, later this evening in order to run through the issues.

As Poe goes through the small fighter's shutdown sequence, he thinks back to his days as an active duty pilot running missions over Afghanistan, and he can't help but twitch his right leg a little. He feels a twinge in his knee, and he once again curses the injury that earned him a Purple Heart and an Air Medal but also forced his retirement. On a good day, it's like nothing ever happened. On a bad day, he can barely bend his leg. At least the good days significantly outnumber the bad most of the time.

He shakes his head. He'd sustained his injury when he was hit with anti-aircraft fire while his squadron was escorting a group of U.S. Senators and their senior staff on a visit to the war-torn country. Even after being hit, he'd taken out three of the guns, allowing the plane carrying the dignitaries to escape. Unfortunately, when he punched out as his jet went down, he'd been hit with sniper fire that shattered his right knee, ending his military career at the age of thirty-two.

He'd passed out from pain in the Medevac chopper and woken up in a field hospital the next day. He'd been shocked to see Leia Organa-Solo, Senator from Connecticut and someone he'd known his entire life, sitting next to his bed. He remembers blinking in confusion, his head still muddled by pain meds. "Senator?"

At his scratchy voice, she'd stood and offered him some water through a straw. After he'd had a drink, she'd put the cup aside and reached up to run a hand through his decidedly longer-than-regulation hair. "I was a late add to the contingent. Your mom would be proud. You Damerons, always looking after my ass." She'd looked more sympathetic than he'd cared for, and he'd figured out quickly that it wasn't good news.

"My knee is toast, isn't it?" That question had brought hesitant, ominous silence. He still cringes at the memory as he sits on the tarmac here four years later. He was offered a desk job, which he knew would've killed him emotionally – he's only taken advantage of his history with the Senator one time, and that was to ask her to help him get a medical retirement from the Air Force. She had, and here he is. He only lives a few miles from the Organa-Solo house, the Senator retiring herself last year.

Poe climbs out of the cockpit a moment later, and he hears a loud bark. He grins to see his large rescue dog, an orange and white Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. People usually blink when he tells them the breed – he'd ended up with him when old family friends called him about the well-loved dog needing a home after his previous owner passed away a year ago. The dog is only three, and he's still quite rambunctious. It's good that Poe has to run every day to keep his rebuilt knee loose. Bee keeps up with him and then some.

"Hey, Bee." The dog's name was courtesy of his previous owner. Per his friends, apparently he was a huge puppy, earning the nickname "Big Boy," which quickly became BeeBee. He lives up to his name, being slightly oversized for his breed. The dog bounds up to him, bumping his legs. Poe reaches down and scratches his ears, and he feels Bee's tail whack against his leg.

"Captain Dameron, how did she do?" One of the airfield's operators comes up to him.

"Airman, I've told you to call me Poe. I'm retired, remember?" Poe grins. He and Finn hit it off the moment they met, once they figured out their shared history. Finn went in to the Air Force to sort himself out personally, though, never intending it to be a permanent career. He's now just out of the Reserves, helping his girlfriend run this airfield and going to school part-time.

Finn returns the grin. "Yes, sir!" Poe rolls his eyes at their usual banter, and Finn goes on, "Anyway, how did she handle?"

Poe shrugs. "Pretty good, but the turns got sluggish at higher speeds. I'll give the doc some notes."

Turning serious, Finn nods. "Sounds good. Anything I need to check on her?" Finn had been a mechanic in the Air Force. Between him and his girlfriend, this airfield is known as a place for planes that need work. They can fix almost anything. They certainly help him keep his old Cessna, inherited from his mom and in the hangar here, flying.

Poe nods. "Yes. The flaps were grinding a bit. May have been just that it's new, but worth a look."

"OK, will do. Thanks, Poe." Finn grins again. "See you on campus next week?"

Interestingly, this airfield isn't where Poe met Finn. He actually met him when Finn took one of Poe's classes at the university where Poe is a professor. Many are surprised when they find out that he's not just retired military; he also has a Ph.D. in History. His focus, of course, was military history, but in addition to teaching upperclass and graduate courses in the subject, he also picks up at least one section of freshman history every term. He met Finn in an upperclass seminar on WWII military tactics, and he'd been impressed from the start at Finn's grasp of the material, particularly the ground tactics.

"You will. Home stretch, right?" He grips the younger man's shoulder.

"It is." Finn's expression is pride this time. "Two semesters to go, and I'll have my B.A."

"That's great, Finn."

The two men walk towards the small building outside of the hangar where the university has some test planes. The small building houses the office for the airfield and has a small tower for Air Traffic Control. Finn's girlfriend Rose waits for them at the office. "Dameron, Dr. Ackbar called and told me that he was called away to consult on a design issue for a friend in Seattle. He'll be back next week, and he asked that you meet him at his office on campus on Monday. There's a new prof joining his department, and he said you should meet her."

Rose waggles her eyebrows in an exaggerated leering manner, and Poe rolls his eyes. Rose and Finn have been trying to set him up since he met them. "Got it. As you were, you two."

He waves at them and heads to the parking lot. He climbs into his car, his singular financial indulgence, a fifteen-year-old black Porsche 911 convertible. The one mercy of his injury is that it was to his right leg, so he can still drive a manual transmission easily. He also likes to tinker with it, so he can keep it up and running himself. He keeps a four-wheel drive SUV too, as he doesn't always want to drive his Porsche in the snow and on the heavily treated roads of the Connecticut winters.

Slipping on his sunglasses – aviators, of course – he whistles for Bee, and the dog jumps into the car effortlessly, over the door frame and into the passenger seat. He slips a safety harness on the dog and attaches it to the seat belt, and they zip out of the parking area, him still shaking his head. He appreciates the fact that Finn and Rose want to find him someone, but he isn't looking.

After losing the only serious girlfriend he ever had to an RPG in Afghanistan five years ago, he is more than a little hesitant to enter the dating fray. Also, at thirty-six, he finds himself feeling less and less interested in the whole singles scene. Unless a woman slams into him out of nowhere, this may be it for him.

His hand automatically goes to the ring on the chain around his neck, his mother's wedding ring. Oddly, as much as he'd cared for Jess, he'd never really thought about giving it to her. That in and of itself tells him that the relationship was more of a wartime thing than a forever thing, but that realization, which hit him about a month after her death, actually made him feel worse about it. She should still be here, and with someone who truly loves her.

He sighs and rakes a hand through his hair as he flies up the coastline. Twenty minutes later, he pulls his Porsche into the garage of his house in Madison. The house is contemporary, slightly out of place in this world of colonials, saltboxes, and capes, but he loves the large windows and high ceilings (even if he is less fond of the heating costs they drive in the winter). It's also isolated, on an acre of land with river access and less than half a mile from the beach.

He thinks about taking his kayak down to the river, but another twinge in his knee tells him it needs to move. "Run, Bee?" The dog barks in approval, and Poe grins. He goes into the house and, after jotting down his notes for Dr. Ackbar, changes into running clothes and shoes. Grabbing Bee's leash (which he usually doesn't need to use – the dog sticks to him like glue) and a bottle of water, they head out, running towards the beach and enjoying the waning days of this New England summer.

X X X X

Two days later, Poe mounts his kayak on top of his SUV. Usually, he just drags it down to the river near his house, Bee right at his heels. Today, though, he was invited for brunch at Leia and her husband Han's house in Guilford with a promise that he can clean up there. So, he's heading that way, planning to kayak the West River in the morning, then head to the Organa-Solo house, where he'll be well-fed and Bee can play with their giant, brown Newfoundland, Chewie.

When he gets to the river, he sets his kayak in, and Bee hops up front. The dog, great swimmer or not, has a dog-sized lifejacket on. The kayak is designed for two, but it doubles perfectly for him and Bee. Poe chuckles, and he scrambles on far less gracefully than Bee did, pushing off from the shore.

The river is mostly empty this morning, given that it's a Thursday. Poe had chuckled at the invitation from Leia, who emphasized that one of the gifts of being retired is that "one can brunch whenever one damn well pleases." Since he's still on break from one job and fully retired from the other, he was game. That thought aside, he plans to spend this afternoon and evening finishing up his course plans for the semester and the notes on his first week of lectures, which start in about ten days. Due to a bet he won against a Poli Sci prof, Temmin "Snap" Wexley, he doesn't have any duties during Freshman week this year.

Paddling at an easy pace, he notices a young woman on a paddleboard about fifty feet in front of him. Even if he isn't looking for a girlfriend, he can't help but admire the woman's strong build. She's slight and tall, but he can see the definition in her arms and legs due to her sleeveless, short wetsuit (a look he will admit he finds far sexier than any bikini out there), which is covered by a tight-fitting life jacket. He turns his attention back to the river quickly, mostly owing to not wanting to sit there ogling her.

Both he and the lone woman are nearing where the river opens into the Sound when two teenage kids on large jet skis come flying down the river way too fast. They shoot past Poe, kicking up a mean wake. He has to grip Bee's jacket tight to keep him on their small boat. He yells, "Look out!" to the young woman ahead of him, but he's too late. He watches in dismay as the kids' wake topples her into the river, and he can see that she gets a little wrapped up in the tether she has to her board, and her paddle also kicks up, looking like it hit her in the head.

When the woman doesn't surface, he curses softly. "Stay, Bee!" he commands the dog in a no-nonsense voice as he strips off his own life jacket. He's right by the shore, so he's able to quickly bank his kayak. He knows he should keep his vest on, but he also knows he needs to get to her fast. His high school days as a life guard come back to him, and he does a shallow surface dive before hitting a fast crawl stroke towards her, keeping an eye on the tether and the tension still in it.

When he gets to her board, he dives under, finding her unconscious, her leg wrapped tight in the tether. He grabs the knife he carries on his ankle when he's on the river, and he slices through the tether. He gets his arm around her in a rescue position, and he has her up on the river bank in seconds. She's not breathing, but she does have a heartbeat, so he gives her a few quick rescue breaths. She gags softly, and he turns her to her side to help her cough up the water in her lungs.

She blinks and tries to sit up, pulling away from him. He immediately releases her, saying, "Easy, easy. Are you all right?"

She coughs a few more times, and then she looks at him, a slight amount of fear in her eyes. He holds both hands up where she can see them. "I'm not going to hurt you. Two idiot kids kicked up a wake that knocked you off your board. You didn't come up, so I came for you. I'm the guy who yelled 'look out' far too late."

She nods and chokes out, "Where's my board?" He must look surprised by the fact that the board is her big concern, but she adds, "My uncle gave it to me, it's special to me." He notices a light lilt to her voice, the bare traces of an English accent.

He turns to look for the board, and he laughs out loud. Even as the woman asks him what's funny, he moves and points at what made him laugh. "I told him to stay."

The woman furrows her brow and peers around Poe, her eyes landing on a medium-sized orange and white dog, swimming towards them and dragging her board by the severed tether. Poe helps Bee pull the board onto the riverbank, and then he turns back to her. "That's Bee – as you can see both a good swimmer and a retriever. I'm Poe. And now I'll ask again. Are you all right?" Bee chooses that moment to shake himself, flinging water all over them both.

"Seriously, Bee?" Poe glares at the dog, and the woman giggles, making Poe grin. But his smile turns serious when he notices the nasty bump swelling on her head near her temple. He reaches for her, hesitating when she flinches. He pulls back as if burned, his hands going up again. "I'm sorry, I just was going to check the bump?" He says it like a question, his mind racing and his hackles rising at the notion of anyone hurting this woman, or any woman for that matter, such that she'd flinch like that.

X X X X

Rey is mortified. Not only did get knocked from her board by two dumbass kids, this (she'll admit it, entirely gorgeous) man had to save her like she was some sort of Disney damsel in distress. Then, she's sure she offended him by flinching away from his hands when she can tell from his entire demeanor were only going to try to help her, as he'd just told her. He's dressed in a short wetsuit just like her, and she definitely did hear his voice shout a warning before the wake came.

"I'm sorry," she shakes her head and winces at the small motion, "I think I'm OK. I just want to go home. My mother is going to lose her shit over this. And thank you for at least trying to warn me and for saving me."

Poe gives her a half-smile. "OK, let me tie your board to my kayak, and we can take you to my SUV and home from there. I can fit your board in my roof-rack."

"No, that's all right, I can just call," she pauses, reaching for her phone, which is usually in a waterproof case on her hip, "Shit." Her phone is gone along with the case. It's probably out in the Sound by now. At his raised eyebrow, she explains, "I lost my phone."

He nods. "Stay here. Mine is on my kayak, only about fifty feet upriver. Be right back. Bee, stay this time! Miss, I'll bring my boat here. Will only take a moment."

Before she can argue, he jogs away. Her keen eye notes that he moves with a very slight limp, favoring his right leg. His dog flops against her, and she scratches the dog's chin. In moments, he's sprawled across her lap as she scritches his ears and rubs his tummy. Her head is a little fuzzy, but she thinks about the man's name. Poe. It's a name she's heard before, but she also can't help but think that's it's a little unusual, at least as a first name. "As if Rey isn't," she mutters to herself.

A couple of minutes later, he is back, pulling his kayak up onto the bank. He opens a case similar to the one she lost, and he hands her his phone after unlocking it. "Call whoever you need to. I promise you're safe with me, though." He holds out his hand to shake her free one. "Captain Poe Dameron, US Air Force, retired."

"Dameron?" She furrows her brow. "Like as in Kes Dameron and Shara Bey?"

His expression suddenly mirrors hers. "Exactly as in them. Those are my parents." His face clouds and his hand comes up, seemingly unconsciously, and grips a ring that he has on a chain around his neck. "Who are you?"

"Rey Kenobi." She doesn't say anything else, wanting to see if he knows her.

"Wait, you're Rey? Rey-is-coming-home-from-California Rey? Leia and Han's daughter?" The man clearly knows who she is, and she relaxes slightly.

"Yes. That Rey. Is it OK if I call them now?" She waves his phone around.

He nods. "Of course. Leia is in there under 'The Senator.'"

Rey looks at the phone and finds the name. She calls the number. Her adoptive mother answers on the third ring. "Goddamnit, Dameron, you better not be calling to tell me you're running late."

"Mum?"

"What the hell? Rey? How do you know Poe?" Her mother is completely thrown, not something that can often be said.

"Well, that's a bit of a story. I can give you the long version later, but the short version is that I got knocked off my board, and he, well, he," she struggles for the right word.

Helpfully, Poe supplies in a voice loud enough for Leia to hear too, "Rescued you. I rescued you."

Rey glares at him, but he just shrugs, obviously unrepentant. "I have a bump on my head, and I think I lost my paddle." She sees Poe glance over at her board and then at the water beyond, and he nods in confirmation.

"Well, Han's out at the beach running the dog, and I have brunch cooking. Can Poe bring you here? He was due for brunch anyway." Leia sounds a little worried, but not about her being alone with Poe. She relaxes further.

"OK, Mum. I can let him bring me home."

"How long will you be?" Leia asks.

Rey isn't sure, so she passes the phone to Poe, saying, "Mum wants to know how long we'll be."

Poe takes it. "Maybe forty-five minutes, Senator. I have to get us back to my car, and then we need to get there."

Leia must say something back, because he grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. "Yes ma'am. Time to being presentable is more like an hour or hour and fifteen."

Unbidden, the thought that as far as she's concerned, he's perfectly presentable right now, springs into her head. She scowls a bit, but she also can't ignore his huge, thickly-lashed eyes; the damn-near perfect face; the floppy, soft-looking black hair; and, well, most everything about him.

Her usual type is tall, dark, and broody. He doesn't fit the mold, even when it comes to dark – he may have olive skin and dark hair and eyes, but he seems to radiate something positive and good. Even after only knowing him five minutes, she guesses that he's far more prone to mischief than evil. He's decidedly not broody, and while he's not small, he is far closer to her height than to the height of her two exes, both probably having five or six inches on him.

"Rey? Dr. Kenobi?" Poe is looking at her, worried. "Are you OK?"

She can see that he has hung up with her mother, and she blushes crimson as if he can tell what she was thinking about. "Sorry, yes. I'm fine. Just a small headache." She also notes that he switched to her title. Her parents must brag about her, and that makes her blush deepen even more.

He nods and helps her onto his kayak. He already has her board tethered to it in order to tow it back to his car. "Can you hold Bee for the ride? He'll probably sit happily in your lap, given the shine he seems to have taken to you."

"Of course," she answers quietly. He places the dog in front of her. True to his word, Bee curls up in her lap almost immediately, his hind end not quite fitting and resting on the small amount of available deck. Poe carefully climbs up behind her and gets his paddle. They start moving, and Rey considers asking him to let her take a turn, but she guesses that notion would be met with stony disapproval. Actually, other than his request that she take Bee, he's gone mostly silent.

They get to his SUV quickly, and she sees that it's a fairly simple, probably five-year-old Explorer. He gets the doors open and motions her towards it. She's shivering slightly, and he must notice, because he wordlessly hands her an old Air Force Academy hoodie.

She nods gratefully, climbing into the passenger seat and slipping the sweatshirt on as he puts Bee in the backseat and then loads his kayak and her board in the rack on top of the car. By the time they get to her parents' house, she doesn't know what to make of his sudden silence. Maybe he's broody after all.

She quietly directs him to drop her at the garage, noting the apartment over it. He agrees, pulling up to it, where she's completely unsurprised to see Leia waiting. Poe asks, "Is this where you store your board?"

Rey says yes, and she watches as Poe climbs up to fetch her board and carry it easily to the rack Leia points out in the garage. Once the board is hung on the wall, she is surprised to see Leia hug Poe tight to her. He also looks surprised, but he hugs Leia back without hesitation.

Getting out, Rey carefully lowers herself to the ground. As she closes the door, Leia says, "Go to the house, kid. Use the guest room you usually borrow and get cleaned up. Brunch is in half an hour."

He smiles. "Sure, Senator."

Leia just rolls her eyes and shoos him away. Rey watches as the SUV rolls over to the main house, maybe one hundred feet away, and her eyes follow him as he collects a bag from the back of his SUV and calls Bee, who dutifully follows him inside. She turns to see Leia observing her. "Let's get you upstairs. I'll help you change for brunch." Rey knows it's an order, so she complies.

X X X X

Brunch turns into an unmitigated disaster, at least in Poe's opinion. Rey got irritated when Han asked Poe to go with him to fetch Rey's Jeep. Poe had cringed at her face, but he agreed with Han. Head injuries are no joke, and she didn't need to drive. She was pissed, though, and it seemed like it was all pointed at him.

She'd been sniping at him since he and Han came back from their quick errand. He doesn't understand it. Maybe she doesn't like military men. He's wearing an old USAF t-shirt with his jeans, so maybe that annoyed her. If that's the case, he'll be disappointed, but he'd also be surprised, given Leia and Han and their stance on the military. Then, when asked about finishing up her degree, he'd been about to engage her in conversation, but she made a crack about Liberal Arts "joke majors," and he'd stood up, rolling his eyes and carrying the plates to the kitchen.

After he'd helped clean up, Leia walked him and Bee out. "I'm sorry, Poe. I'm not sure where that came from. She's usually quite pleasant to be around."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. You know my skin is thicker than that. But honestly, I just don't have the energy for the science vs. liberal arts debate right now."

"No, she was out of line – it doesn't matter that she doesn't know what your job is. It matters that she was being a grumpy pain in the ass." Leia looks pissed, and Poe has the fleeting thought that he's glad that it's not at him.

He leans down and hugs her. "Leia, take it easy on her. She took quite a tumble, and I'm sure her head is killing her."

"You're way too nice, Dameron." She lifts an eyebrow at him.

He just shrugs as he lets Bee into the car. "Tell her I hope she feels better soon, OK?" Leia agrees, and moments later, he's heading down the long driveway. He's honestly not sure what just happened. Rey's mood was so dark that they hadn't talked about why they didn't really know each other, what her job was out here, anything. He mutters, "Not my problem."

X X X X

Rey watches as her mother bids her apparent savior good-bye, still fuming – both over him agreeing with Han that they should go get her Jeep, and then over his leaving in a huff about the college majors crack. She gets lost in thought again, and she doesn't know when Leia comes back inside. "What the hell was that, Rey?" Leia sounds outraged.

"He agreed with Dad and got all huffy that I joked about liberal arts majors!"

Leia half-expects Rey to stomp her foot. She rolls her eyes. "Rey, you really need to know your audience. On the second part, he might've gotten huffy because he has a Ph.D. in History and teaches at the same school where you're about to start," Rey's jaw drops, but Leia isn't done. "And as for agreeing with Han, he's a retired combat pilot. He knows from head injuries. No way would he be on board with you driving just hours after dragging you out of the water unconscious."

Rey flushes in shame. "Damn it. I'm sorry, Mum."

"Your mom's not the one who you need to apologize to, Little One." Rey turns to see Han standing there. "Everything else aside, by your own admission, that man saved your life today."

Han shakes his head and goes to his garage, where he tinkers with an old '57 Chevrolet convertible he calls the "Falcon." Leia just says, "I'm going to clean the kitchen," and leaves.

After a moment silently berating herself, Rey follows Leia. She tries to help her mom, but Leia waves her towards the stools at the breakfast bar. Rey perches on one, watching Leia work. They have more than enough money from Leia's father's legacy to pay people to do this kind of work, but Leia says that she likes to do it. After a while, Rey finally asks, "Mum, how long have you known Poe? I've never met him, but you act very comfortable and familiar with him."

Leia dries a large pan and lifts an eyebrow at Rey. "Longer than I've known you." Rey blinks in surprise, Leia puts the dish down. "I'm his Godmother, Rey. His mother was a pilot, too. She was a civilian contractor in Europe back when I was brand new in the Diplomatic Corps. She saved my life, flew me and ten others from the site of an Embassy bombing. We became fast friends."

"Wait, you're Poe's Godmother? How is it that we never met?" Rey is stunned.

Leia's expression turns sad. She walks over and pours herself a glass of wine from the open bottle on the counter. When she returns, she looks more composed. "At nearly the same time you were being born, Shara died. Ovarian cancer. Poe was barely eight. They'd been living near here, Shara working as my private pilot. Her husband, Kes, who used to work with your dad, fell apart. He was from central Texas, near San Antonio, so he took Poe and went home."

"The ring on the chain around his neck?" Rey asks quietly, knowing the answer.

Leia sighs. "Shara's. I kept up with them, of course. Poe had his pilot's license at seventeen, went to the Air Force Academy. His grades were top of his class, both in high school and college. He's far smarter than his flyboy persona makes him appear. I helped him work out a deal to do graduate work while on active duty. When he was shot down in Afghanistan four years ago, it was protecting me and the rest of the Senators and their staff on that trip. All he had left was to finish his dissertation then, and he did that while rehabbing his knee."

Leia motions to Rey to follow her. Rey does, asking, "It was his right one, right? He has a slight limp."

Leia nods, and they walk to the library, where Leia goes straight to one book among the hundreds here, handing it to Rey. The cover tells her that it's about air combat tactics of the second World War. It also tells her that Poe wrote it. "Would you believe that book made the top five on the New York Times Non-Fiction bestseller list and was briefly #1 on Amazon's Non-Fiction list? It was his dissertation. I made him submit it for commercial publication. I'm pretty sure the royalties from that paid for his house."

Rey hugs the book to her chest. "How is it that I never met him until today?"

Leia shrugs. "Just bad timing, sweetheart. By the time Han and I adopted you, he was in Texas, then Colorado for school, then active duty. He didn't move back here until you'd been in California for a year, and you know you've been scarce the last few years."

"I know you said his plane went down. What happened to his knee?"

That draws a frown from Leia. "He lost almost all of his squadron and his fighter was already hit, but he kept it in the air long enough to take out all of the anti-aircraft guns on the ground. Our transport plane escaped with the last fighter as cover, but Poe had to punch out. A sniper got him, shattered his right knee with a shot as he was coming down." Rey cringes, and Leia reaches out and squeezes her arm. "I sat with him for four days – two in the field hospital, then in the Medevac and in the military hospital in Germany. The pain was apparently excruciating. I'm also the one who had to tell him that his air combat days were over."

Leia has to wipe uncharacteristic tears from her eyes. "It killed him. I could see it in his eyes. I helped him get a medical retirement instead of the desk job they'd have put him on." Rey tries to say something, but Leia stops her. "He was the best natural pilot I'd ever seen. What he could do in a fighter jet was nothing short of amazing."

"I need to go to his house and apologize, don't I?" Rey looks at the floor.

"Give him a few days, sweetheart. He's going to Texas for the weekend to check on his dad, leaving tomorrow. Catch up with him next week." Leia squeezes her arm again.

Rey heads back to her apartment, book in hand. She goes to her small kitchen and makes a cup of tea, and then she goes to settle in on the window seat. She puts down the book and her tea to go get a sweater. On her bed, she spots his sweatshirt. On impulse, she picks it up and smells it. She's struck by the fact that it smells like the ocean and something outdoorsy and clean. She chides herself for wondering if his hair smells the same way.

She shrugs into the hoodie that is about two or three sizes too big for her and settles down in the window seat to read. The picture on the back of the book is him in his flight suit. According to the caption, it was probably taken only months before he was shot. She thinks to herself that the picture alone probably sold a lot of books to otherwise uninterested young women in particular.

As she begins to read, she can almost hear his voice in her head reading the words aloud. It doesn't take long to be engrossed, her highly technical and mechanical brain absorbing the material like a sponge. She also feels a lot worse about her behavior earlier when it occurs to her just how much more to him there is than meets the eye.

 **Note, while the allusions to where Rey went to school are intentional, the university where she and Poe teach is not – it's a made-up school, set in an area I have some familiarity with. So, no – they don't teach at Yale. But yeah, meet cute here, more to come.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I should note that I wrote a fair amount of this halfway through my second vodka tonic on a plane home from taking my daughter to Disney World, so, you know, mistakes might occur. : )**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Rey pulls her Jeep into the faculty parking area she was assigned, admiring an older-model black Porsche convertible a few spots down. As she pulls a few things from the car, she wonders about its owner – probably an older guy, retired from some other world where you make enough money to drive that kind of car as a college professor. She's dressed in jeans and flat ankle boots with a modest tank top covered with a nice oversized shirt. She's concerned that everyone will think her a student, but she can't really do much about that without putting on a suit, which she isn't going to do.

Mailing tube of schematics worn across her body like a staff and a messenger bag crossing her chest the other way, Rey walks in the direction of the office of her new boss at the university feeling a little nervous. Even though her Uncle Luke spent most of the weekend showing her where everything is on campus, she still feels a lot like a stranger in a strange land. Luke had shown her where Dr. Ackbar's office is, so she heads for the Engineering School building cluster, going towards the one with a sculpture of a jet out front.

She opts to climb the stairs up to his office on the third floor, but she'll use the elevator later today when she moves her things into her new office. She moves through the office space to find the door Luke had shown her on Sunday. She finds it quickly, open this time instead of closed.

She knocks on the door frame. Her new boss, with a bald head and bushy beard, stands up. "Rey! Welcome!"

She'd met Dr. A, as he usually is called, at her interview last month. "Good morning, Dr. A." She gives him a tentative smile.

"Sit, sit!" He motions her towards a chair in front of his very-cluttered desk. She does, propping her mailing tube against the desk, and they spend the next half hour going over her schedule, her potential research grant applications, and a few other items. He also asks to look at her schematics with her, and he helps her hang them on a blank space on his wall.

They are for a fighter jet, an idea she had that could improve speed without sacrificing stability or maneuverability. Having seen them electronically already (Rey carries the tube because she likes a larger view she can easily annotate), Dr. A reminds her that he loves them but says he has some notes at first glance. Before he can give them to her, his phone rings.

He steps away to take the call, but Rey stands and stares at the plans, still overly proud of herself for the design. A second later, she jumps when a relatively familiar voice says, "That's pretty damned cool, but you need to tighten up the wing shape if it's going to maneuver correctly."

She turns on her heel, irritated at the intrusion. She blinks, surprised into silence when she sees none other than Poe Dameron in front of her wearing jeans and hiking boots, a crisply-pressed cream colored dress shirt with the neck opened enough for her to glimpse the chain he wears and the sleeves rolled up, and a pack slung over one shoulder. His quick eyes are still focused on the schematics, clearly analyzing what he sees. She lifts an eyebrow, her irritation with him from last week flaring quickly, possibly in no small part because he looks so damned good. "I thought you were a History professor?"

He rolls his eyes and re-focuses on her. "Unbelievably, some of us Liberal Arts majors know some things outside of soft skills, Dr. Kenobi."

The use of her more formal name stings Rey for some reason, but before she can reply, a chuckle from behind them makes Rey jump again. Poe doesn't flinch at all. Dr. A says kindly, "Dr. Kenobi, you'd do well to give Captain Dameron's thoughts credence here. The note he just gave you is one I'd intended to give you myself, and if we're able to get the grant money to build it, he'll be your likely test pilot." The older professor turns to Poe. "Young man, I'm sorry I had to reschedule our meeting on Tuesday. How did she fly?"

Poe ignores Rey and focuses on Dr. A. "Pretty well, Doc, but she was dragging a bit in the turns when I opened her up out over the water, but she did fine at lower speeds. The flaps were grinding, too. Finn took a look at them. He thinks it's just that they're new, but Rose is helping him run a full check this week to be sure." He hands over some longhand notes, something Dr. A told her he prefers. "I went to see my dad this weekend, so I wasn't able to wrap up my full report. I'll do that today, sir. I can email it to you when I'm done."

Rey blinks when Poe mentions the names Finn and Rose, but she's also stunned to see the way Dr. A is immediately engrossed in Poe's notes. She's so caught off guard that it takes her a moment to realize that Poe just left. She looks at Dr. A, and she realizes that he won't notice if she leaves. Grabbing her bag, she runs out of the office. Poe is already gone, so she goes and runs down the stairs, heading out into the sunlight and turning towards the College of Liberal Arts.

Classes don't resume for a week, so it's easy to spot him with his rolling gait caused by his knee injury. He's not far ahead of her, so she calls, "Poe, wait!" He turns, and, in what is becoming a familiar reaction, he rolls his eyes, putting his hands on his hips, waiting for her.

She sighs, trotting over to him, hoping she'll be able to manage to not put her foot in her mouth with him yet again. She's not holding her breath over it. It's clear that's a good idea, because when she gets to him, he asks in a voice that sounds, in a word, tired, "Did you need something, Dr. Kenobi?"

X

Poe isn't sure what he expected from her; he's tired from his weekend trip to Texas, and he finds himself even more tired of her sniping at him. Because of the latter, he's surprised when Rey replies, "To apologize. I need to apologize. A lot. For being a totally insensitive and dismissive ass. My own brother dismissed my choice of profession the same way I dismissed yours, and it makes me just as much of an ass as it made him, if not more, because I actually know what it feels like to be dismissed in such a way. I'm truly sorry. And Mum told me how you saved her in Afghanistan, and Dad was mad at me, and I read your book, it was amazing, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Did I say that I was an ass? I mean –"

Blinking and grinning, Poe holds up a hand. "Yes. You said you are an ass. A few times." He chuckles and shakes his head in amusement. Before she can ask what's funny, he says, "That may be the most sincere – if most rambling – apology I've ever heard. Do you have to stay here today?"

"I just need to move my stuff into my office. It can wait. Why?" Poe notes that she seems to do her best to sound neutral, though his question clearly surprises her.

"We have a mutual friend I think you'd probably like to go visit." He gives her a wink and beckons towards one of the faculty lots with his head.

She follows him. "Is it Finn?"

"Might be," he shrugs slightly, but he can't keep the smile off his face.

They get to his car, one in the same lot as hers, and she blinks at him. "I thought you drove an SUV?"

He grins and shrugs. "Sometimes. I fly planes, too. Kayak, as you know, and I also have a bike. But I drive this when the weather cooperates. Top down OK?"

"Works for me, Captain." She smiles back, and she drops her bag in the space behind the seat after he puts the top down. Her hair is braided back today, but he puts his own bag in the trunk and offers her a baseball cap.

It's a Houston Astros cap, and she snorts. "I'll pass."

He laughs. "I forgot. You spent the last five years in LA, right?" At her nod, he adds, "I'd say I'm sorry about the World Series, but I'm really, really not."

He tucks the cap under his seat and puts on his sunglasses, and he senses that Rey is staring at him. When he looks over at her, she quickly slips on her own sunglasses, but he can see a tell-tale blush on her cheeks. Interesting. He scolds himself for that thought, though. As he backs out and zips them out of the parking lot and off campus, he tries to remind himself that beyond the fact that he isn't looking for a woman, one, she is Han and Leia's daughter, two, Han will shoot him if he even looks at Rey funny, and three, she has done little but insult him from the moment they met.

Then, something occurs to him. "You read my book?" He has a windscreen in his car, so the noise isn't too bad.

She shoots him a sheepish smile. "Yes. I was astonished that you managed to make such a topic so fascinating."

As they stop at a light, he turns and looks at her, one eyebrow arched such that she can likely see it over his sunglasses. "So, was that a 'not bad for a history teacher' remark?"

She shakes her head. "Absolutely not. My dissertation could put the world's worst insomniac to sleep in minutes. Maybe seconds. I think the only person who enjoyed reading it was Dr. A. Even I think it's boring as hell, and I wrote it." She pauses as they pull away from the light. "I really am sorry, Poe. I was pissed at you for agreeing with Dad, which was completely unfair. Then I just slipped into grumpy and bitchy mode. You were quite wrongly caught in the line of fire."

"It's OK, Rey. You'd had a rough day." He's pleasantly surprised again by her sincerity, but at the same time, he's curious. "But can I ask you something?"

"Sure." The answer is quick, but she sounds nervous to him.

"Is the whole Liberal Arts vs. Science thing just academic snobbery, or is it something deeper?" She frowns, and he tries to make himself clear. "Rey, I say that because you don't strike me as the snob type, and I know for a fact that Leia's degrees are in Poli Sci and Public Policy, with a dash of Diplomatic Relations. I was actually really surprised by it."

She sighs and replies so softly he can barely hear it. "It's the second one. Something deeper. But I don't really want to talk about it right now, OK?"

They stop at another light, and he looks at her. Her eyes are downcast, her hands tense. He reaches over tentatively, wrapping his right hand gently around her left. When she doesn't pull away, he squeezes lightly before releasing and putting his hand back on the gear shift. "Of course it's OK, Rey."

They fall into a surprisingly companionable silence for the rest of the ride. He steals glances over at her as she leans her head back, clearly enjoying the open air. It suddenly occurs to him that he's never had a woman with him in this car. Whenever he drives Leia or Rose around, it's in his SUV. Several years ago, when he first moved back here, he did go on a few disastrous dates, but that was before he bought his Porsche. Leia calls the car his girlfriend.

Ten minutes later, they're pulling in to Tico Field, and he heads for the office. He parks the car and turns off the engine, getting out. He notices that she is still in the car, sunglasses off, tucking a few errant strands of hair back into her braid. Taking off his own glasses and hooking them to his shirt pocket, he goes around and opens the door for her. She looks up in surprise at him, but she takes his offered hand and lets him gently pull her to her feet, murmuring, "Thanks."

They lock eyes for a moment, his hand still holding hers. He blinks, and he's about to say you're welcome when Finn's voice catches their attention. "Scavenger?"

They turn, and Finn is loping in their direction, a huge smile on his face. Rey drops Poe's hand, and she shoots away from him, running straight for Finn. "Stormy!" Finn catches her as she hurls herself into his arms, and Poe can see that Rey is clinging to Finn, and he's suddenly very pleased with himself for bringing her here today, though he's also surprised to feel a tiny sting of envy that she's so warm and easy with Finn.

He feels someone come to stand next to him, and he looks down to see Rose there, grinning. As if she read his mind, she says, "Those two. I'd be jealous if I didn't know that he's more of a brother to her than Ben ever dreamed of being. Both orphans – our regular Little Orphan Annies."

Poe laughs and wraps an arm around the shoulder of the small woman, hugging her to his side. "Hey, Rosie."

She hugs him back. "Captain Dameron."

He snorts, but it's good natured. "Cut it out, Rose."

"Yes, sir!" She pulls away and gives him a mock salute, making him laugh.

As they watch Finn and Rey talk excitedly, Rose peers up at Poe. "So, how exactly is it that you're the one to bring her here? I know Finn and I wanted to catch up with her last weekend, but her mom said something about nursing a headache?"

Automatically, Poe replies, "She had an accident on Thursday. I'm not surprised she had a long couple of days."

Rose cocks her head. "And you would know this how?"

Before Poe can answer, he senses something coming towards him. A moment later, Finn hugs him hard enough to lift him off his feet for a moment. When his friend puts him back down, Poe blinks a few times before saying, "What the hell was that for, Finn?"

"You saved her life? Do you fighter pilots just go around looking for people to rescue or something?" Finn actually sounds so outraged that Poe has to laugh at him.

Poe shrugs it off, but he still rubs the back of his neck with one hand. "Well, you can take the boy out of the Air Force, but it's hard to take the Air Force out of the boy."

Finn grins at that. "Damned right, Captain."

"Shut up, Airman." Poe shakes his head.

"Yes, sir!" Finn snaps Poe a sharp salute, which prompts an obscene gesture from Poe.

Finn cracks up, and he says, "Really, Dr. Dameron? You would flip off one of your students?"

"Former student, kid. Former," he pauses, noting the confused look on Rey's face, so he explains, "Finn aced one of my first upperclass seminars two years ago. We bonded over being vets."

Finn wraps an arm around Rose's shoulders. "Yep. I even met Rose because of Poe – I was helping him with one of Dr. A's projects out here, and there she was."

Rey surprises Poe again by looking, if his sense of these things is even close to accurate, a little jealous. He decides that he should give the two friends some time to catch up. "Speaking of Dr. A's projects, Rose, did you start the diagnostic on the jet's flaps?"

Rose is canny as hell, and she picks up on his intentions immediately. "I did. Let's go take a look at it, and I'll tell you what I found so far."

She ducks out from under Finn's arm and links her arm through Poe's, dragging him towards the hangar. He stumbles slightly and laughs. "Hey, mind the not-so-functional knee." Rose just laughs, and Poe shakes his head. He's glad he found these friends, even if he's still not sure about Rey. That said, he has to remind himself about Han's gun collection when he thinks about how incredibly attractive Rey looks when she's irked with him.

X

Rey watches Poe walk away with Rose, and she kicks herself mentally, because she knows she's staring at his butt as he walks away. Finn apparently knows, too. "Like what you see, Dr. Kenobi?"

She elbows Finn as they walk into the office and drop into chairs at the table in there. "Oh please, Stormy. You know I'm not into the cocky type."

"Right. You're into emo guys or serious scientists. Those went well." At her wince, he frowns. "Damn, I'm sorry, Scavenger. That was out of line."

"It's all right, Finn." She sighs. "When he was trying to help me last week, I kept flinching away from him."

"Sorry?" Finn looks confused.

"Poe. When he was trying to help me, I kept flinching. I know it hurt his feelings." Rey frowns.

"Rey." She looks up, because Finn almost never calls her by her name, instead using the nickname he gave her when they used to scour junkyards for parts for his shitbox car. "He can handle it, and you went through hell with that piece of crap guy, damn, with both of those piece of crap guys. But Poe is definitely not a piece of crap guy, Rey. He lost someone a long time ago in Afghanistan. Rose and I have tried to set him up, but he isn't willing. He's not a jerk. I mean, if he knew about either of them, he might actually fly his own plane out to LA just to punch both of them. Don't make assumptions."

"I'm really not, Finn. I swear. I can tell he's a decent guy. My parents wouldn't like him if he wasn't, and neither would you and Rose." She sighs again. "I've just insulted him about ten times since Thursday. I've been a real ass."

"And you like him!" Rey's head pops up to see Finn grinning at her.

"Finn! No I don't! You know I'm not looking for anyone! I'm done with dating. Done." She frowns and shakes her head.

"Then don't date. He hates dating, too. Just jump in the sack and start making smart, ridiculously attractive babies. Leia and Han will love it. You know they're dying for grandkids." His grin just widens as she blushes and opens and closes her mouth like a fish. "Rey, you're worried about upsetting him, you were straight up ogling his ass a minute ago, and you have sighed not once, but twice in the last five minutes. None of those things are normal behaviors for you."

"Enough, Finn." She waves her hand at him. "Enough, OK? And I do care if I upset people."

Finn shakes his head. "No, Rey. You care if you upset me, Rose, your Uncle Luke, Leia, and Han. That's it."

"Ben, I care about," Rey starts.

Finn stops her. "Bullshit, Rey. I call bullshit. Ben's a tool. Even his parents think so."

"I don't know how to do this, Finn. I don't trust my ability to read people anymore, not after Armitage and Mike." Rey looks down.

"You know, as much as I hated Mike, the cheating piece of shit, Hux was worse. I watched my dad kill my mom and then himself. Any man who lays a hand on a woman, even a woman who is often able to defend herself, is a waste of skin." Rey leans into Finn, hugging him tight to her. Finn says quietly, "Don't let that son of a bitch ruin your life, Scavenger. Like you told your dad – he's not worth the jail time. Don't let what he did become a prison for you."

She has to blink back tears at that. "Thanks, Stormy."

After a moment, he leans back. "So, how about we convince Rosie and Poe to go to lunch, and then we'll go get you moved into your office?"

"Deal." She grins, trying to shake off their conversation.

"Come on." He stands up, and they go towards the hangar to look for Rose and Poe. They expect to find them at the prototype jet, but instead, Finn points them out at a small private plane. As they walk towards it, Finn says, "It's a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. It was his mom's. Rose and I help him keep it in shape – and trust me, for a forty-year-old plane, it's in mint condition. I think it's the only thing he takes better care of than his Porsche."

She laughs. "Well, I can understand his love of that car. It's awesome."

"Oh hell, no. Do not encourage him, Scavenger." Finn shakes his head, but he's grinning when he does.

"Encourage who?" Rose pops out from behind the front of the plane with Poe right behind her.

"Encourage the flyboy here regarding the unnatural affection he has for his car," Finn responds, still grinning.

"Hey!" Poe protests, "There is nothing unnatural about it. That car is a classic!"

Rey walks over to Poe, steels her courage, and links her arm through his. "Going to have to side with the flyboy on this one. That car is definitely a classic."

Poe looks at her, surprised. Then he smiles. "See, someone who finally appreciates her as much as I do."

Rose and Finn throw up their hands in mock outrage, and then Finn proposes lunch and then helping Rey move in. They agree, and Finn and Rose leave Poe and Rey alone in the hangar while they go to the office to check in with the man they have working up in the tower to let him know they'll be out for the afternoon.

When they're gone, Rey separates from Poe and looks up at the small airplane. She can see that, as Finn says, it's pristine. "This is beautiful, Poe. Finn said it was your mom's?"

He nods. "It was. I know she's not a fancy jet, but she's about my favorite thing to fly. My mom took me up in her all the time before she got sick. She'd even let me take the controls starting when I was about six."

"Mom told me about her," Rey responds quietly, "I'm sorry."

Taking a deep breath, Poe looks at her. "Thanks, and thanks for siding with me just then. Finn and Rose can be lethal when they start ganging up on you."

"Hey, it was the truth. I love your car. I saw it when I parked this morning and thought it was gorgeous." She shrugs, a smile on her face, relieved at the relative ease suddenly blooming between them. "This plane really is awesome, too."

"Thanks." He smiles and opens the door for her, letting her sit up in the pilot's seat. He follows and takes the co-pilot's seat. "Do you fly, Doc?"

She shakes her head. "Uncle Luke has taken me up a few times, but my designs are just in my head. It's something I know I should do, learn that is."

"I can teach you, if you wanted." She looks at him, surprised again, and he shrugs. "I'm a Flight Instructor, and this is actually a good plane to learn on."

"Oh good lord, it's like you're good at everything." She tries to look annoyed, but judging by his grin, she fails miserably.

He disagrees with her, though. "No way. I can't design like you and Dr. A do. It's more about understanding the shapes and feel – I've been flying and even working on planes a long time, you know? You get a feel for how things will work."

"Do you miss having flying be your job?" He winces slightly at the question, and she frowns. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that."

"No, it's OK." He smiles faintly. "Yes. I miss it. But I just miss being in the air. I don't miss the fight. I don't miss losing friends week after week. So, I guess you could say that it's complicated."

The air seems to get a little heavy between them, and she reaches out tentatively and touches his arm where it's exposed by his rolled-up sleeve. He looks sad, and she hates that she made him sad. She doesn't say anything, just gently squeezes before she lets go.

After a moment, she says, "If you were serious, I'd love to learn to fly."

"I was serious. We can look at our schedules and find common free time." He seems to shake off the momentary melancholy. "Now let's go find Finn and Rose."

X

The next day, Poe wakes up sore. After lunch (where he watched in amazement as Rey put away her lobster roll and half of Rose's), they'd gone back to campus to help Rey. She'd had about five boxes of books and other office supplies as well as a drafting table. The books were heavy, so Rose and Rey went to find a dolly, leaving Poe and Finn to wrestle the table up to Rey's office.

They'd used the elevator, but they hadn't noticed the signs warning them of a wet floor courtesy of the cleaning crew. Both Finn and Poe managed to slip at the same time. They'd kept the table from crashing to the ground, but he'd wrenched the hell out of his bad knee. He'd felt bad at the look on Rey's face when he'd rather abruptly taken his leave, but his knee had been screaming at him.

He sits up on the edge of the bed, looking at his knee. It is heavily scarred, and today it's also swollen, though not quite as badly as he'd feared it might be. Bee, who was curled at the foot of his bed, walks over and bumps his shoulder, whining. Poe reaches up and scratches Bee's ear. "No run today, buddy. Walking will be an achievement."

Reluctantly, Poe reaches for the brace in the cabinet next to his bed and puts it on. He hates the days where he needs to wear it, but the relief is immediate, the pressure it provides helping immensely. Even so, he also downs two ibuprofen from the bottle on the nightstand.

He grabs his phone, calling the lone admin for his department at the school, leaving a message that he's under the weather and will be working from home. He is very happy that school doesn't start until next week, because trying to teach when his knee is like this is miserable. He shakes his head, though, smiling. It had been worth it. The four of them had a lot of fun over lunch and then marveling at how much stuff Rey had wedged into her Jeep.

He wants to call to apologize for his hasty exit the day before, but he realizes that he doesn't have her number. In his head, he sorts through the people he could call or text to ask for it, and he dismisses them all, knowing that, to a person, they'd tease him like mad over the request.

Sighing, he lets Bee out and then goes to change, slipping into a pair of sweats that are cut off at the knee and an old Air Force t-shirt. He'll just go see her at her office tomorrow. He lets Bee back in, and after grabbing a protein bar and some coffee, he sits down at his desk to finish his report for Dr. A and to finalize his lecture notes for next week.

It's nearly lunch time when he hears a knock at his front door, setting Bee to barking like crazy. He furrows his brow, because he wasn't expecting anyone. He pulls himself up and limps to the front door, running a hand through his hair. When he grabs Bee's collar and opens the door, he's stunned to find Rey on the other side of it. "You owe me, Flyboy." She smiles at him. "I had to ask my mom where you live, and you know I'll never hear the end of it."

He smiles back, releasing Bee. The dog looks like he's about to jump, so Poe says, "Down, Bee." The dog complies, bumping his body against Rey's legs instead. "Not that I mind, but what are you doing here, Sunshine?" He ushers her in, cursing himself for the nickname that has been bouncing around in his head since lunch yesterday, but it's not like she doesn't do it to him with the flyboy thing. And sunshine is what she looks like to him – almost no make-up, hair braided back again, those gorgeous eyes – there's something so natural about her, and it's intoxicating to him, especially when most of the women he meets are dolled-up and actively on the prowl in a highly off-putting way.

She comes in, and he smells food. Seeing her look around, he's glad he keeps the place clean and mostly neat. She turns and holds out a fairly large bag. "Tacos."

"OK," he takes the bag.

"I went by to thank you for helping me move in, and your department admin told me you were out. Finn told me he thought you hurt your knee moving the table, and I wanted to be sure you're OK. And I was hungry. So, I brought tacos." She blushes bright red. "I mean, if you want lunch, I though we could, um, have lunch together?"

He beckons with his head, and she follows him. He limps to the kitchen, and he can tell she's observing him. "It's OK, Rey. It'll be fine in a few days. I just twisted it when we were moving your table in."

"I'm so sorry," she starts to apologize, but he holds up his free hand.

"Not your fault, Sunshine." He shrugs. "It just happens now and then."

They get into his kitchen, a bright, airy room. The cabinets are white, with a sand-colored backsplash and dark granite countertops. There's a window behind the sink that gives a good view of the river, and all of the appliances are stainless and new. She looks around. "I love your house. It reminds me more of California than Connecticut."

"Thanks," he grins, "I love the capes and the colonials, but this is more me – I wanted high ceilings and light. Your mom helped me find it and gut it out. She basically did my whole kitchen for me, just occasionally ran color choices by me."

"That sounds like my mom, all right."

"She knows I like to cook, and since she does too, she basically, in her words, set it up like she'd want it. I've learned with your mother that nodding and smiling are the only way to go sometimes." He puts the bag down on the counter and grabs some plates. "Do you want to eat outside? We should probably enjoy the warm while it lasts."

"Sounds good to me. Drinks?" She smiles at him.

He points to the fridge. "Grab me a water, and help yourself to whatever you want." He gathers the plates, silverware, and napkins and pockets a no-rawhide bone for Bee. Catching the bag with one hand, he heads for the patio. Rey follows, Bee close behind.

He has a nice table on his back deck, and he puts the plates and food down. She settles in a chair, but he pulls an extra chair over so he can elevate his leg, which is already throbbing a little from his little burst of activity. She's digging into the bag as he settles into his chair and tosses the bone to Bee, who gets under the table and starts gnawing on the bone.

"I have fish, shrimp, beef, and vegetarian," she informs him, "And a bag of chips and salsa." She pulls out the bag of chips and opens it, putting it between them along with the salsa. After pulling out two tacos for herself, she passes him the bag.

He laughs out loud when he looks in the bag. At her surprised look, he says, "Rey, there are enough tacos here for a small army."

She blushes lightly and protests, "I like tacos."

"Who doesn't?" He smirks. "I shouldn't be surprised after the way you plowed through the lobster rolls yesterday." He picks a fish taco and a shrimp taco from the bag, setting it aside.

She shrugs. "What? I have a high metabolism. And I missed lobster rolls. They try, but there are no decent lobster rolls in California."

They eat in silence for a few minutes, but after a while, he can't help but break it. "As much as I appreciate the food and the company, sunshine, why are you really here?"

She puts her taco aside and looks down at the table. "I wanted to explain something to you. Well, two things really, I wanted to explain two things. About how I acted the day you met me and even yesterday morning."

"Rey, you don't have to explain anything you don't want to." He frowns. He hadn't meant to push her.

"No, I want to." She swallows hard. "I want to preface this by saying it's an explanation – not an excuse. I was out of line with the things I said." He stays silent, just nodding, and she goes on, "I dated two guys when I was in California. The first one, another Engineering student, cheated on me. I thought that was bad. But the second one, he was worse."

She swallows again, and he gets a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach when her eyes sheen slightly with tears. "The second guy was one I met at a friend's house. He was also a grad student, but down at USC, working on his Ph.D. in English Literature." She pauses and takes a deep breath. "We'd been together three months the first time he hit me."

"Sunshine, you don't have to," he wants to hug her, but he knows he needs to keep his distance for the moment.

She shakes her head. "I want to. I've never really had to tell anyone but Mom, Dad, and Finn, and that was when I was in the middle of it. Finn was a rock – his own dad was abusive, so he got it."

After another deep breath, she goes on, "The first time I tried to think of as a fluke. We'd been having an argument, and it could have very reasonably been called an accident. I was pulling away from him, and, anyway. The second and third time, those were clearly not accidents. But he was so apologetic every time. I had always wondered why women stayed in bad relationships. I know now that when you care about someone, you want to believe that it's aberrations, not normal for them."

"What happened that made you end it?" He asks quietly, again dreading the answer.

"He pushed me down and kicked me in the ribs. He messed up, though – kicked me so hard that it broke a rib and punctured a lung. I spent three days in the hospital." She has clear tears in her eyes when she looks up at him. "I got a restraining order, and I had to convince Dad not to kill him. He wanted to."

Poe feels pure rage in his gut, and he can't help the words that tumble out. "I want to, and I've only known you a week."

She gets a small smile on her face. "I appreciate that." She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "But that's why I snipe about Liberal Arts majors, and it's why I flinched when you reached towards me at the river. I'm sorry."

Making sure she can see his hand, with her nod, he takes her hand in his, squeezing tight. "Stop apologizing, Sunshine. You never have to apologize about anything related to that piece of shit."

"Armitage Hux."

"Gesundheit." He cocks his head at her in confusion.

She giggles softly, grateful for the slight distraction, and she says, "His name is Armitage Hux."

"Please tell me he did time for domestic violence." Poe squeezes her hand.

"He did and is. And it turns out I wasn't his first punching bag. His first was just a misdemeanor, but me, I was a felony. He's in prison for five years after putting me in the hospital. He also got kicked out of school." She squeezes back.

"Good. He deserves worse, but good." He looks in her eyes. "Does he know where you are?"

"I don't think so," she replies, "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, you know?"

She shivers involuntarily, and he can't stand it anymore. He releases her hand and stands up gingerly, and he moves to her chair. He offers her his hand again, and she takes it, letting him help her stand. When she's up, trying to be mindful of her boundaries, he asks softly, "Can I hug you, Rey?"

She doesn't answer, instead moving towards him and wrapping her arms around his waist. He immediately wraps his arms around her, pulling her close. She sighs after a few moments and presses her face into his neck, and he is amazed by how good she feels in his arms, how right.

X

The minute Poe asks her if he can hug her, Rey suspects that she's a complete goner. It's confirmed when he wraps his arms around her, making her feel totally safe for the first time in almost two years. She nearly melted into the floor (in a good way) when he answered the door earlier.

While he looks good when he's neat and pressed, in old cut-off sweats, a faded t-shirt, messy hair, bare feet, and a day-old beard, he's downright perfect, knee brace notwithstanding. It's honestly criminal that a man can look as appealing as he does.

She also realizes that he has a quiet confidence that neither of the guys she dated seriously – and both disastrously – had. She'd called him cocky the day before, but she knows he's actually just comfortable in his own skin and confident in his skills. The most telling thing the day before had been when he made it clear that there are things he can't do. She inhales, and she's reminded of the woodsy, ocean-y scent that lingers on his hoodie, which is still on her bed.

Rey feels him shift, and she lifts her head as she steps back slightly. Her eyes lock with his, and she has to work hard to calm the butterflies that are suddenly swarming her stomach. His eyes look wary, as if he doesn't want to frighten her away. To try to make it clear that he's not scaring her, she moves one of her hands up to do something she's been dying to do since they met. She hesitates briefly before combing her hand through the soft, curly locks. He gasps quietly, and her hand comes to rest on his cheek, her thumb brushing over his cheekbone.

His eyes stay on hers, only moving to flit down to her lips and back. Her breathing goes a little shallow, and unconsciously, she begins to drift closer to him again. They're nearly the same height, so it's easy for her to get close to him, something she finds that she appreciates. His hands tighten on her, but a moment later, they both jump slightly when his phone rings.

They separate quickly, and she feels a blush rise on her cheeks as he fishes his phone out of his pocket. He looks at the screen, and he smiles and shakes his head before answering it. "Good afternoon, Senator."

Rey rolls her eyes, and she takes a few deep breaths before turning to clean up their lunch. She hears him say, "OK, Leia, I'll be there. Seven o'clock."

She's stacking the two plates when she hears him softly say, "Behind you," before coming up behind her and gently wrapping his arms around her waist. The fact that he recognized that she might be jumpy with unexpected touches and adjusted his actions accordingly makes her melt a little. She turns in his arms and presses her forehead to his. The moment from before is gone, but this is pretty wonderful, too.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"For what?"

"For knowing that I need you to be careful with me, at least for now." She's not proud to admit it, but unexpected touch freaks her out a little.

"You don't have to thank me for that, Sunshine." He leans away and presses a soft kiss to her forehead. "Your mom just invited me to dinner. Apparently, Ben is coming."

Rey cringes and moves away slightly. "Damn."

He lets her see his hand fully before he brushes some hair out of her eyes. "Leia actually said that she wants me there to run interference. Why should I need to do that?"

"Long story. Let's just say that he thinks I should be in Finance, and I quote, 'Putting my abilities to good use.'" She shrugs. "He was highly pissed that I decided to waste myself on my chosen field."

"Seriously? He thinks a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering is a waste of your abilities?" He looks outraged on her behalf, and she begins to realize how nice it feels to have someone completely in her corner on this. Han and Leia are too, for the most part, but Ben is their son – she refuses to force them on the matter.

"Seriously." She moves out of his arms again and picks up the dishes and her water bottle. He follows with the taco bag and his own water, Bee trotting behind them. She puts the dishes in the sink, and he puts the tacos in the fridge. She smiles ruefully. "I should get back to campus. I have a meeting with Dr. A at three to go over my lecture plans for the first few weeks of the semester."

He nods and, once again making sure she sees him first, puts a hand on her lower back to gently guide her to the front door. He opens the door for her, and she leans down to scratch Bee's ears before straightening up to look at him. After a beat, she leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for being willing to come tonight, Flyboy. You don't have to. I can deal with Ben."

"I don't mind, Sunshine." His smile tells her that he's being honest with her. "Thanks again for lunch."

"OK, then I'll see you tonight." She starts down the steps of his front porch before turning back to look at him. "And Flyboy?" He lifts a questioning eyebrow at her, and she goes on, "Two requests for tonight?"

"Shoot," he replies with a curious smile.

"One, bring Bee. Dogs annoy Ben. I like to annoy Ben." She gives him a mischievous grin.

He laughs and nods. "Check. Bring dog. And two?"

Her grin turns to what she hopes comes across as a leering smile, but she knows it's probably ruined a bit by the blush on her cheeks. "Unless you just really want to, don't shave. I like this." She motions to the stubble on his face.

He blinks in surprise before laughing again. "Your mom will gripe about it. She's always grousing at me to shave."

"All's the better for interrupting us earlier."

She turns on her heel before heading to her Jeep as he calls, "You got it, Sunshine, but I expect you to protect me from Leia."

She gets in her Jeep and calls back, "You got it, Flyboy. See you tonight!"

With a wave, she starts her car and pulls away. She can't stop smiling when she realizes that he stays on his porch watching her drive away until she's out of sight.

 **Note – so yeah, these are really long chapters – not sure where they're coming from, but I'm enjoying putting them together – next up, we meet this AU's version of Ben Solo.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Fair warning, I REALLY don't like Ben. That much will be readily apparent here. Angst here, and warning, I do describe some injuries from domestic violence, but nothing is all that graphic. The pattern is basically Fluff, Angst, Fluff. I promise.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

P oe gets to the Organa-Solo house (Organa-Solo-Kenobi, he thinks to himself) almost thirty minutes early, and when he drives up, he can see Rey in the window of the apartment above the garage. Since he's early anyway, he stops at the garage and looks warily at the stairs to the apartment. His knee is feeling better after the day's rest, and he still has his brace on, so he decides to give it a try.

He turns off the engine and unbuckles Bee's harness, and they both head for the stairs. He lets Bee go first, following slowly and keeping his leg mostly straight. He's happy to note that his knee feels a lot better than it did twelve hours ago, just a little stiff now, and it's no longer swollen. When he gets to the top, he taps at the door. Bee barks for good measure, making him laugh. Bee's tail begins to wag so hard it makes a noise on the ground when Rey calls, "Just a moment."

He's dressed similarly to how he dressed for school yesterday, jeans, hiking boots, and a dress shirt, but when her door opens, he drags in a deep breath. She's wearing a dark green t-shirt dress, the A-line skirt swirling around her knees. She has on Converse, which he completely adores, and her hair is loose and curled around her shoulders. She's wearing a little more makeup than usual, but it's subtle enough that he likes it. He smiles. "Hi, Sunshine. Hope you don't mind – I was early, and I saw you up in the window." He rubs the back of his neck with one hand, realizing that she might not have wanted company. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you. You clean up nice as well." She beckons him in, smiling and petting Bee as Poe limps inside. Once she closes the door, she says, "Do you have your phone on you?"

He nods. "Of course." He pulls it out and holds it up where she can see it.

"Unlock it, please?" She smiles again.

Once he does, she takes it from him and appears to send a text message. She hands it back, and he peers at the screen to see what she did. He grins when he sees that she gave him her number and saved her number to his contacts as "Sunshine."

She goes and grabs what must be her new phone. She shows it to him a moment later, and he can see that she now has his number under "Flyboy." She sighs happily. "I realized that I forgot again to get your number, and I really, really didn't want to have to ask Mum for it." As if she realizes that he's standing there, she gasps. "And come sit down! You didn't have to come up the stairs! Is your knee all right?" She comes over and ushers him towards the window seat, pushing him down on it in a way that allows him to put his leg up.

He laughs and shakes his head, but he obliges her anyway, stretching his leg out along the window. "Rey, I'm fine. It's a lot better. It usually only takes a day or so to recover after I tweak it." She still looks worried, so he pats the window seat next to his extended leg. "Sit, Sunshine."

She does, looking embarrassed. "Am I hovering? I'm sorry. I know you can manage yourself, I just don't want you to hurt yourself on my account."

"Rey, it's fine. It's nice. Pretty much only Leia worries over me these days. I like it when you hover." He tries not to sound too eager about it, but he can't help but remind himself that he'd been thinking about their almost-kiss all afternoon. He'd also been thinking that he should ease up with her, thinking about how much older he is than her, thinking about what she went through – that part nearly made him put a fist through his wall – and thinking that Han really will kill him if he screws this up.

But all that goes out the window when she blushes again, and he thinks it's adorable how easily he can make her turn pink. "OK." She looks at him through her lashes, and then she clearly notices something. She reaches up and touches the now nearly two-day-old beard. It's rough, and he twitches slightly at her touch. "Thank you for leaving it."

He gives her a crooked smile. "Whatever the lady asks." At her arched eyebrow, he amends, "Within reason."

"Come on, Flyboy. Are you scared?" His brain screams hell yes, he's scared, but then she cups his jawline and again brushes her thumb on his face, this time back and forth on the coarse hair.

"Just learned a long time ago that the within-reason-standard is my friend. Hazard of spending years with a lot of crazy-ass pilots." He shrugs, still smiling. Her touch on his jawline, though, is driving him crazy. Trying to distract himself, he looks down and sees his hoodie on the outside of his outstretched leg. He grabs it, lifting an eyebrow as he holds it up for her to see. She blushes again, covering her eyes with her hand.

He starts to say something else, but then he notices a copy of his book that had been under his sweatshirt. He puts the sweatshirt aside and picks up the book to see that it's dog-eared and annotated with over a dozen tape flags marking pages. "What's this then?"

She drops her hand, and her eyes widen. "Oh God." If she was pink before, she's crimson now. "Give me that."

He grins. "Not a chance, Sunshine." He flips through the tape flags on the book, and he's stunned and honestly flattered at the number of times she just noted to ask him about the information she has circled or annotated in the margins. "How many times have you read this?" His voice is quiet and even a little awed.

He looks up, and he sees that she's moved a little closer despite being somewhat mortified. She replies softly, "Several times. I lost count. Mum's going to kill me. That's her copy."

He murmurs, "I'll get her a new one. I'll even sign it for her." Her eyes meet his, and he can't fight back the urge to kiss her. Without moving his eyes from hers, he closes the book and sets it aside, his hand hesitantly moving up to her face. He whispers, "Rey may I," he doesn't get the words out before she closes the distance between them, her eyes drifting closed as she presses her lips to his. His mind goes blissfully blank as he threads his fingers into her hair. The kiss is soft, but he returns it enthusiastically.

He expects her to pull back after a moment, but she surprises him again, separating only long enough to breathe and then moving in again, this time for a kiss that is far less chaste. He gently pulls her to him, and he tilts his head, making her gasp. He takes advantage, his tongue delving into her mouth. She meets him there, her tongue tangling with his. Her hand echoes his, sliding into his hair, and he loses himself in her.

X

Rey feels like she's flying, and the appropriateness of that thought isn't lost on her. She can't remember the last time she felt like this – it's possible that she never really has. She presses herself into his hard upper body, relishing how he feels against her. His hair between her fingers is so soft, and her other hand balances on the upper thigh of his good leg. He actually growls a little in his throat when she lightly squeezes the muscles under her hand.

She's not sure how long they stay that way, but a phone ringing makes them pull apart for the second time today, though this time with far better timing. It's the same person, too. They're both panting a little, but Rey is able to catch her breath well enough to say, "Mum?"

"Rey, darling, I'm glad that you and our favorite pilot are getting to know each other better, but you're both going to be late for dinner, and you need to be glad that I'm the one who took the dog out and can see you two making out like teenagers instead of Han."

Rey looks out the window, and Poe follows her gaze, both of them groaning when they see Leia outside, waving and smirking up at them. Poe drops his head to her shoulder, and Rey looks away to peer at her watch. "Mum, it's not seven yet."

"Yes dear," Leia sighs dramatically, but Rey can hear that she's teasing, "But you only have ten minutes, and you probably need to fix your makeup a bit; from what I could see, you also both need to comb your hair. Though Poe's is usually a mess either way. And for God's sake, try to cover up any beard-burn with makeup."

The connection ends, and Rey drops her face into her hand. Rey mumbles, "Mum said it's ten minutes to dinner."

"Hell," he says, laughing and lifting his head, "But I'm glad it was her and not Han."

Rey drops her hand and giggles. "That's what Mum said."

"Wise woman, the good Senator is." She looks him in the eye, and he smiles, tucks some hair behind her ear, and says, "Hi."

She laughs again. "Hi." Unable to resist, she leans forward and pecks him on the lips again, but then she stands up, offering him her hand. He takes it, and she pulls him to his feet. She smooths out his shirt, and she mumbles, "I wrinkled you."

"Well worth it, Sunshine." He grins and follows her to the apartment's small bathroom. She gets all melty again when he tidies up her hair for her while she touches up her makeup and adds a little extra to the beard burn that Leia predicted. She uses her fingers to straighten his hair a little as well, and they head out a moment later, Rey grabbing a well-worn cardigan on her way out.

Bee, who was asleep by the door, follows them down. Rey gets Bee to go with her, letting Poe make his way slowly down without help. She guesses that he'd rather she not make a big deal over it, so she doesn't. When he's down, she says, "Walk or drive?"

He sighs, and she says, "Poe, I don't care if you need to drive. Listen to your body, not to your pride." She noticed that he came in his SUV tonight, and she guesses that getting in and out of it is easier on his knee than his Porsche, which is low to the ground.

He tosses her the keys, and she nods. The doors are unlocked, and he lets Bee in the back. She climbs in, watching him gingerly slide in to the passenger side. "OK?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, I'm OK." He looks unhappy.

She's not having it. "Poe, look at me." He lifts his eyes to hers. "I jump at any unexpected touch. I still have nightmares about not being able to breathe from the punctured lung. Finn still has nightmares about his dad killing his mom. Rose cries any time someone says her sister's name. Uncle Luke has PTSD from Desert Storm. You need to take it easy on your leg sometimes. We all have shit, you know? I promise not to be embarrassed by mine if you promise me the same, deal?"

He gives her a rueful smile. "Deal, Sunshine."

She starts the car, and they drive the short distance to the main house. They get out, Bee trotting in front of them to the door. As they walk, she reaches out and takes his hand, entwining their fingers. When they get to the back door, he tugs on her hand, stopping her before she reaches for the knob. Without a word, he leans in and presses a gentle kiss to her lips. "Thank you, Rey."

His sincerity warms her from the inside. She squeezes his hand, still wrapped tight in hers. "Any time, Flyboy." She motions to the door with her head. "You ready for this?"

He squeezes back. "I've faced down the Taliban. I'm pretty sure I can handle your petulant jackass of an older brother."

"I meant Mum." She chuckles and reaches for the doorknob, opening the door that leads directly into the kitchen.

Leia is there, and she rolls her eyes as Bee trots over to her and leans against her legs. "Really, Dameron? The dog?"

He grins and points at Rey with his free hand. "Her request."

Leia rolls her eyes and laughs. "Seriously, Rey? Are you just trying to piss Ben off?"

"A little." Rey admits it openly.

"OK, you two. Dinner will be ready in fifteen or twenty minutes. Han and Ben are in the living room. There is alcohol." Leia motions towards the door with her head. "Go on, Rey. I need Poe's help with one thing."

Rey looks nervous at that, but Poe just waves her out, saying, "Take Bee. He's got your back, Sunshine."

Reluctantly, Rey leaves Poe with Leia, taking Bee and heading to the living room. Before they can get in there, Chewie bounds out, and Bee barks, chasing the much larger dog back into the living room. She grins when she hears Ben yell, "What the hell? Another damned dog?"

Rey tries to wipe the glee off of her face as she walks into the room to join Han and Ben. She ignores Ben and goes straight to Han, who is laughing, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Hi, Dad." She then looks at her brother. "Ben."

"Come to your senses yet?" He scowls at her.

She rolls her eyes, but she can feel an even darker vibe from him than usual. It makes her very uneasy, and it also makes her wish that Leia hadn't asked Poe to stay in the kitchen. She mentally tries to shake off the nerves, and she coolly says, "Give it a rest, Ben."

"Good idea." Rey turns to the door, and both dogs bark as Luke comes in. "Leave Rey alone, Ben. Your choices suit you alone. Rey's life is her own."

Rey runs over to Luke, hugging him. "Mum didn't tell me you were joining us!"

He hugs her back. "Hi, Little One." When he lets her go, he asks, "And is the Captain here? I see Bee is, and if I'm not mistaken, that's his car out front."

Rey nods, blushing lightly and hoping no one notices. "Yes. Poe is with Mum in the kitchen."

Ben snorts derisively. "What, is it feed a stray night at the Solo house?"

"Ben!" Han is the one to call him out. "Cut the shit. And if it's feed a stray night, what does that make you?"

Eyes flashing in anger, Ben pours himself a scotch, neat, and Rey winces. This is going to be a long night.

X

Back in the kitchen, Poe comes over to Leia and asks, "What did you need my help with?"

She shrugs. "Nothing." She motions to the stool at the bar. "Sit."

It's not a request, and he knows it. "Leia, if this is about what you saw – "

She cuts him off. "It's not, or at least that's not all. Anyway, you two are going faster than I thought you might, but I've wondered for a while what would happen when you two finally met. The sparks are, in a word, unsurprising." Before he can say anything, she goes on, "How is your knee?"

He sighs. "Twisted it helping Finn take Rey's drafting table up to her office. It'll be fine in a day or two."

"When did you last take something?" She looks at him evenly, daring him to lie to her.

"Right after lunch," he begrudgingly admits. Leia opens a drawer and pushes a bottle of Aleve at him. He takes out two and dry-swallows them, making her wince. "How did you know?"

"Saw you get here and take the stairs to Rey's apartment very slowly. And you also get this one line between your eyes when you're hurting. You had it a fair amount when you stayed here at the beginning of your rehab," she explains quietly. She pauses, and then she adds, "With regard to what I saw, I just want to know if she told you. If she did, you'll know what I mean."

He furrows his brow. "She did."

Leia relaxes a little. "Just be careful with her, Poe. Eighteen months ago, she was a shadow of herself, not entirely unlike the way you were four years ago."

"You know I will be, Leia. And you also know that if, when he gets out, Hux so much as breathes near Rey, I might kill him." Poe knows his eyes blaze a little, but he doesn't care.

"Good," Leia replies, "But I imagine you'll be in line behind me and Han, maybe also behind Luke and Finn."

"How bad was it, Leia?" He wants to know, but he also doesn't.

She takes a sip of her drink. "Very bad. Did she tell you about the lung?" At his nod, she goes on, "Anything else?" He frowns and shakes his head, and Leia sighs. "Well, it wasn't just that – it was just the worst part. She also had a shiner, a busted lip, and bruises all down her side. He'd hit her in the face so hard that it fractured the orbital bone around her right eye. She's lucky that he didn't do permanent damage – the trauma doctors at the hospital in LA spotted that problem when they were working on her lung. Their observation probably is what saved her vision in that eye."

"Son of a bitch," Poe mutters.

"My thoughts exactly," Leia agrees, "I thought the cops were going to kill the pasty bastard. Han nearly did, and Finn actually did hit him. Would you believe that the asshole came to the hospital? Finn laid him out with one punch – we already had the restraining order in place, and Hux showed up, screaming that he'd kill her for lying about him. Han had to pull Finn off of him. No one at the hospital said anything. They all told the cops that they had no idea what happened to Hux, who was unconscious on the floor. They were good people."

Tears in her eyes, Leia puts a hand on Poe's shoulder. "Rey knows that he showed up and that Finn hit him. She is terrified of him, even though she likes to act brave. But he's up for parole next year."

"Can we go to the hearing to at least try to keep him in for the full five?" Poe has never been angrier in his life, and he's seen a lot of shit.

"We can and we will, believe me." Leia nods.

"If you want to rent a jet, I'll fly us all out there. Rey, you, Han, Finn, and even Rose if she wants to come. Just tell me when, Leia."

She nods again, and she comes over and hugs him tight to her. "I love you, kid, and there isn't anyone else I'd rather see Rey with, you know?"

"I love you, too, Leia, and that means a lot to me." He hugs her back.

When she pulls back, she says, "And don't let Han scare you off. He's all bark and no bite on this. You know he likes you, and you know he trusts you." She steps back over to the stove. "Now dinner is in ten minutes. Go make sure that Rey isn't about to kill Ben."

"Yes ma'am." A thought occurs to him. "Ben knows too, right?"

Leia grimaces. "Yes. He was his usual self about it."

"Shit." Poe scowls.

"Yeah, that." Leia looks sad. "I have no idea why my only biological kid turned out to be such a complete and utter jerk. Now shoo." She motions him out.

He limps to the living room, and he's glad he shows up when he does. He enters the living room in time to hear Ben say, "So what, Rey, you're a teacher now?" He says it with venom and derision, and Poe's hackles rise immediately. He can see Rey near the window, her back to both him and Ben, her shoulders tight with tension, clearly trying to ignore Ben. "I was talking to you, you pathetic leech." Ben goes over to her before Han can stop him, and he grabs her shoulders roughly, forcibly turning her to face him.

As Rey shrinks away from Ben, her face a picture of panic and fear, Poe is across the room far faster than he'd have believed his knee would allow. He grabs the much larger man's arm and wrenches him away from Rey. "I swear to God, Solo, son of my Godmother or not, if you so much as touch Rey again, I will tear you apart." Bee and Chewie, both almost entirely non-aggressive dogs, get on either side of Poe and growl menacingly at Ben.

Poe stands between Rey and Ben, seething. Rey puts a hand on his back and whispers, "Poe, it's OK."

"No. It's not." Han's voice is cold, and Poe can see Luke at his shoulder, his eyes just as icy as Han's voice. "Ben, you can leave. Now."

Ben sneers. "I bet Mother will overrule you."

A voice from the door makes them all turn. "You'll lose that bet, Benjamin. You can go. Do not come back until you can behave respectfully." Leia advances on her son. "How could you? You know what happened. How could you put your hands on her like that?"

Poe watches the scene, feeling slightly ill. He turns to Rey, and she moves into his arms automatically, hiding her face in his neck. She clings to him, and he wraps his arms around her, holding her to him as if he can protect her from the world. Chewie stays next to them, and Bee bumps against her legs, settling with his head against her thigh.

Poe tunes out Ben and the rest of them, his focus entirely on Rey. "Do you need to go outside?"

She nods, and he feels her shaking against him, her breaths going shallow. Having been in combat, he's seen his share of panic attacks, and he can tell that Rey is close to one. He looks back and sees Han and Leia hustling Ben out. Luke watches him and Rey closely before nodding at Poe and mouthing, "Get her out of here."

As he feels her shaking intensify, Poe murmurs, "I'm going to pick you up, Sunshine." She nods against his neck again, and Poe picks her up bridal-style. Even as tall as she is, she feels feather-light in his arms.

To his surprise, Luke heads past them to a patio door, opening it and gesturing to the outside. "Take her out here for a minute, Poe. I'll let you know when Ben is gone." Luke gently brushes Rey's hair back. "I'm sorry, Little One."

She shakes her head and clings tighter to Poe. "Not your fault, Uncle Luke." Moments later, Poe has her near a bench, and he starts to lower her onto it. She grips him tighter, saying, "Sit with me."

He kisses her forehead. "I will, but I need to put you down first. I can't, with my knee –"

"It's OK, I'm sorry." Her voice is a little stronger, but nowhere near strong enough for his taste.

"Never be sorry about this, Rey." He puts her down gently and then sits next to her. Before he can say anything else, she scrambles into his lap, sitting sideways and wrapping her arms around his neck, clinging to him again. He's humbled by the trust she shows him after knowing him for such a short time, especially given their friction early on.

He has one arm wrapped around her, and he uses the other to pull her knees in closer to him. "I've got you, Sunshine. You're safe." Unconsciously, he starts rocking back and forth with her, humming softly.

After a minute or so, he's relieved to note that she stops shaking. "I'm so sorry, Poe."

He shakes his head and presses a kiss to her forehead. "Stop saying that. We all have our shit, remember?"

She nods. "I shouldn't have had you bring Bee. It just irked him more."

"Screw that," Poe says, "He was clearly pissed off and spoiling for a fight, Sunshine. That behavior had nothing to do with Bee."

After another minute, she loosens her grip on him. "OK." She breathes the word out. She slides off of his lap, putting both feet on the ground. Bee comes over and rests his chin on her knees, and she reaches down to scratch Bee's ears. Voice still soft, she says, "Good boy," and Bee snuffles happily.

He rubs her back. "Take your time, Sunshine."

A tap on the doorframe makes them both look up. Luke is standing there, a concerned look on his face. Poe has known Luke for years, and while the librarian tends to be quiet and is known as an eccentric, when Poe first came here, he was also the one who helped him find his way around and who connected him with Dr. A when the professor needed a test pilot. "Better now, Little One? Ben is gone, and Leia and Han are putting dinner on the table. Can you eat?"

"I think so." Rey nods. She stands up, turning and offering her hands to Poe. He takes them and lets her pull him up.

Luke says, "I'll let your mom know you're both coming," and he goes back inside.

Rey looks at Poe, leaning into him and pressing her lips to his. He slides his hand into her hair and lets her control the pace. After a moment, she pulls back, clearly much calmer. She then opens her eyes and chides him gently, "You shouldn't have picked me up, Poe. You might've made your knee worse."

"Stop, Rey. It didn't hurt me, and I'm fine. I promise." His hand is still in her hair, and he brushes it back. "Despite all the tacos and lobster rolls, you weigh next to nothing."

She snorts, and he's happy to see her returning to some semblance of normal. "Adrenaline. That was adrenaline, Flyboy."

He chuckles and drops his hand, only to have her take hold of it for them to go inside and join the others in the dining room. Dinner is a restrained affair, and Leia is particularly subdued. Han and Luke try to make up for it by telling stories about how they met, something vaguely unbelievable involving Leia, the Falcon, Rey's late guardian Ben Kenobi, garbage dumpster, and two stray dogs named Three and Arty.

It helps with the tension, but when Poe and Rey offer to clean up and Leia actually lets them, they know she's truly upset. She hugs them both tight before going upstairs, mumbling an apology to them. Luke takes his leave then, leaving them with Han and the dogs. Han offers to help them clean up, but Rey has seen him try to do that – and all he generally does is make a bigger mess. She waves at him to sit at the bar while they work.

He does so, glass of bourbon in hand. As they finish the last of the pans Leia had used, Poe can sense tension from Rey, and he looks at Han. "Sir, do you think Ben will come back tonight?"

Rey blinks at Poe in surprise, but Han scowls. "Maybe. He had a car and driver here, so he didn't have to drive. He was actually a little drunk when we showed him the door."

Poe and Han hold each other's gaze for a long beat before Poe nods almost imperceptibly, and Han gets up and goes to Rey, who looks a little like a frightened animal. "Little One, I want you to go home with Poe tonight. I'd rather you not be here if Ben comes back."

She looks at Poe, and he nods. "It's a good idea, Sunshine. The guest room is all yours."

Nodding silently, Rey hugs Han. "OK, Dad. We'll come back in the morning before we go to campus. I'll want to check on Mum."

"Sounds good, Little One." Han ruffles her hair.

Poe can tell that Han wants to talk to him. "Rey, why don't you take my car and Bee and get a bag ready? I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Rey looks reluctant, and Han says, "Take Chewie too, if you want to."

She bites her lip and looks at Poe. "But your knee?"

Poe comes over to her and presses a kiss to her forehead. "It's fine, Sunshine. Better than after the stairs, I promise. I can walk a hundred feet." He hands her the keys again.

She nods. "OK. It'll only take me a few minutes. I'll be ready when you get there."

"No rush, OK. If you're not ready, I'll just wait at the car."

After giving Han another hug, Rey goes out the door with Bee tight on her heels. When the door closes, Poe turns to Han, pretty much knowing what Han has to say. Instead of waiting, Poe says, "I'd rather die than hurt her, Han, so you don't have to threaten to kill me."

Han looks at him appraisingly. "You've known her less than a week."

"Best week of my life, sir." It may sound like a platitude, but Poe is somewhat startled to realize that it's the truth.

After observing him briefly, Han rolls his eyes. "Damn, kid. You are an earnest one, aren't you?" As Poe laughs and shakes his head, Han comes over and holds out his hand. Poe takes it, and Han says, "Take care of her."

"I will, sir." Poe nods.

"Go." He waves Poe out. "And Leia will be all right. This has been a long time coming, unfortunately."

"Good night, Han." Poe leaves, heading out into the cooling evening. Fall is coming, he can tell. He sighs and limps towards the garage. His knee is sore, but it's entirely manageable. When he gets to the garage, true to her word, Rey is coming down the stairs, Bee on her heels again.

She changed her clothes – she still has the Converse on, but she's now wearing them with yoga pants, a tank top, and his hoodie. She has her messenger bag, the one she had on campus the day before (has it only been a day, he thinks), and a large duffel bag that he can tell is full.

He smiles at the bag as he takes it from her. "How long do you plan to stay, Sunshine?"

She blushes lightly, and she shrugs in embarrassment as she softly replies, "As long as you'll let me."

Her honestly and clear need to not be alone tugs at something in his heart, something he thought was completely gone after his mom and, to some extent, Jess. His brain supplies the word "love," but he's nowhere near ready to say that, in no small part because he's afraid it would send her running for the hills. Instead, he just replies, "Then you can stay as long as you want." He pauses, and before it turns awkward, he says, "Do you want to ride with me or bring your Jeep?"

"With you, if that's all right. I figure we can come get my Jeep tomorrow – I want to come check on Mum anyway."

"Sounds good." He opens the passenger door for her, and then he opens the backseat door for Bee. Once they're in, he goes around the back of the car and throws her duffel back there. Moments later, they're on the road to his house, less than twenty minutes away. Only a minute or two into the drive, Rey falls asleep in the front seat. He's flattered that she trusts him enough to do that.

As he steals looks at her sleeping form, he is, not for the first time, amazed by how beautiful she is. He's more amazed, though, by how smart she is, how brave and strong. Those things just make her more beautiful to him.

Bee's head comes to rest on the center console, and Poe realizes that he forgot to put Bee in his harness. He's not going to worry about it this one time, and he scratches the part of Bee's snout that he can reach.

He glances over at Rey, and he can't really believe everything that has happened in the last week. It was only seven days ago that he was thinking about how maybe being alone was just how it was for him, and now, he's having trouble imagining his world without Rey there pushing at him – because he knows that's how it will probably be with them, something of a regular push-pull. Oddly enough, that idea is suddenly very appealing to him, as he guesses that life with Rey will at least never be boring.

X

Rey startles awake at the sound of Poe's garage door, and she blinks and looks at him. He holds up his hand where she can see it before reaching over and brushing her hair back. "Did you have a good cat nap?" He says it teasingly, and she has to smile, batting his hand away gently.

"I did, actually." She stretches, appropriately, like a cat, and she can see him watching her closely. "I'm all right, Flyboy. I promise."

He nods and gets out, both of them laughing as Bee clears the console and follows Poe out the driver's seat door. She gets out, too, picking up her messenger bag. When she gets to the back, he's closing it, her duffel bag slung over one shoulder. She looks around the garage, which is surprisingly neat. She also sees that half of it is twice as deep as the other half. She motions to it. "Tandem? You can fit a third car, right?"

"Yes. One can pull to the back. I mainly use the extra space when I'm working on this one." He gestures to the black car parked next to his Explorer.

As they leave the garage, she runs a hand along the hood of the Porsche. "What will it take to get you to let me drive this?"

He chuckles. "Can you drive a stick? That's the first requirement."

She looks affronted. "Of course. Dad had tons of classic cars when I was growing up. My first car was an old MG. Stick shift and no power steering."

He nods, totally serious now. "Then anytime, Sunshine. I trust you. There are even a couple of test tracks we can go to that are a day trip – one in western Mass, the other in Lakeville in Litchfield County."

"Really?" She suddenly looks so excited that he wishes he could take her to one tomorrow.

He grins. "Really. I'll see what I can get set up for us."

She claps her hands and bounces like a little kid, and he's happy to see it. They walk up the steps to his house, and he lets them inside, walking to the pad by the door to disarm the alarm system. When he turns back to her, she says, all of the enthusiasm of a moment ago gone, "Do I have to sleep in the guest room?"

He looks stunned, so she goes on, "That wasn't a come on or a proposition. I just really don't want to sleep alone. And that's really not a euphemism for anything, sleep, I mean. I just feel almost certain this will be a nightmares kind of night." When he doesn't say anything, she keeps talking. "It's OK if you don't want to, though," she looks down, one hand with a death grip on her bag, the other fisting in the fabric of her sweats, "But could I maybe borrow Bee? That might help? Just not being alone might help."

A moment later, she can feel him right in front of her, and he says, "Hugging you now," in a quiet voice. As his arms surround her carefully, she drops her messenger bag and wraps her arms around his waist, pressing her body to his. He pulls her in tight, and she relaxes into him, her face tucking into his neck again. "Of course you can sleep with me. And no, that's not a euphemism either."

She nods and whispers, "I never ramble except with you."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

She pulls back slightly, looking him in the eye. "It is one," she says, leaning into him and kissing him in a way that hovers between gentle and passionate. It quickly turns to the latter as her hands grip tight at his waist, his coming up and cupping her face. Before if can get too out of control, he pulls back, pressing his forehead to hers.

She appreciates the restraint, because as much as she really, really likes kissing him, she's not ready for it to go any further. If they lost control tonight, she'd likely regret it in the morning, and that's not how she wants to start her relationship with him.

It suddenly occurs to her that she is oddly sure that she wants this, whatever it is, with him to be for the long haul. Jumping into bed in the biblical sense when she's emotionally shaky is not the right way to begin something. She closes her eyes and whispers, "Thank you for stopping us."

"You're welcome, Rey. But I hope you don't mind if I don't say 'any time,' because, you know, one day I'd like us to see how the euphemistic stuff goes too." She laughs at that, and he drops a light kiss on the tip of her nose, beckoning to her to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you where everything is."

Less than an hour later, they're in his queen-sized bed, facing each other, Bee curled up at their feet. He's in a t-shirt and boxers, and she is in a pair of sleep shorts and one of his t-shirts. She stole it from the drawer he had open to pull out a shirt for himself, and he'd just laughed.

He's on his left side, what he said he pretty much has to do for his knee, either that, or his back, which he said he really hates. She, on the other hand, doesn't care. But she already warned him that when she feels safe, she's a snuggler. He'd just smiled, pressed another kiss to her forehead and said, "Bring it on, Sunshine. I can handle it."

She scoots closer to him, almost pressed against him, and she says, "Thank you for this, Flyboy."

"Rey, you don't need to thank me. This is the least I can do for you." He moves, clearly wanting to reach for her, but he hesitates.

Instead of giving him permission, she just moves into his space, resting her head on his shoulder and her legs carefully tangling with his. He told her he doesn't like to wear his brace at night, so there isn't anything between them. His arms go around her as she asks, "Is this OK?"

"That's my line, isn't it?" He chuckles.

She rolls her eyes even though he can't see it. "I meant is your knee OK, you dork."

He laughs softly. "Did you really just call me a dork?"

"I did. You have a problem with that?" She leans up and punctuates her question with a lingering kiss to his neck, just below his ear.

He inhales sharply, and after he breathes out again, he says, "No, but that was playing pretty dirty there, Sunshine."

"Sorry, not sorry," she replies, snuggling even closer. "You're warm. I'm always cold. This really works for me."

"Good night, Sunshine."

"Good night, Flyboy." It's not long before she feels him relax, his breathing evening out. Between the weight and warmth of Bee near her feet, and how safe she feels in Poe's arms, the comfort his steady heartbeat against her provides, she has never felt more comfortable in her life. She sighs, amazed that she's really only known this man five days. Refusing to borrow trouble worrying over that fact, she closes her eyes, letting herself drift off with the now-familiar scent of him enveloping her.

 **Note – yes, I always make Rey kiss him before he can kiss her. It just seems how it would go.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Some angst again, but yeah, fluff too, and a quick look at Poe's history. One warning - keeping the rating a T, but the language gets coarse here.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

P oe wakes up the next morning with Rey still pressed to him, and he can see that Bee has moved up and stretched out along her back. She'd only woken up once, whimpering and gasping for breath. He'd just rubbed her back and hummed a song he remembers his mom singing to him as a kid, and she'd gone back to sleep pretty quickly. He's not entirely sure that she'll even remember.

He turns slightly and looks at the clock on the nightstand. It's just after 5:30, his usual time to get up. His knee feels surprisingly loose this morning, almost back to what he'd call normal, and he really wants to go for a run. He looks down at Rey, and he tries to disentangle himself from her without waking her up.

He fails miserably. She blinks her eyes open, mumbling, "What time is it?"

He presses a kiss to her forehead. "5:30. My knee's better, and I want to go for a run. You sleep."

She rolls over on her stomach, hugs his pillow, and mumbles, "Don't have to tell me twice."

That makes him grin, but he perches on the edge of the bed and asks softly, "Sunshine, I usually take Bee when I run, but I can leave him with you if you need me to."

She opens one eye and peers at him over her arm. "You can take him. I'm OK. I promise."

"OK. I'll have my phone. Call me if you need anything. I'm going to set the alarm, but I'll text you the disarm code."

Her eye drifts closed, and she mumbles something like, "'K. Yes sir, Captain."

He chuckles and stands, quietly summoning Bee to follow him. After he changes into running clothes and downs a small bottle of water, Poe heads out towards the beach with Bee at his heels. He often runs four miles, but he decides to take it easier today, keeping it to three. He won't pretend having a beautiful woman in his bed at home isn't at least part of his motivation on that, but the rest is simply that he doesn't want to overdo it.

It's a cool morning, and as much as he likes it, he also knows his days of comfortable outdoor runs are numbered, as the weather will turn colder soon. He loves fall, though, his favorite season here in New England, and he fully intends to drag Rey to the apple-picking farm not far from here. It's gray out, but the Sound is still a beautiful sight. He mumbles, "Maybe we should take the Orient Point ferry to Long Island this weekend."

He stops running for a moment and shakes his head, making Bee peer up at him. He may be getting ahead of himself. It's not like they've declared themselves to be in some sort of relationship. Yes, they've made out a couple of times, and she stayed with him last night. But those things don't automatically make her his girlfriend or anything.

Poe looks out over the Sound for a moment, trying to get his head on straight about Rey. He's now known her a total of six days, but if he's honest with himself, he's more attached to Rey than he may have ever been to a woman, even Jess, who he was with for two years.

He can't help but think a little about Jess right now. He has a funny feeling that she'd be amused by how quickly and completely he's fallen for Rey, especially given that she spent the first days of the six basically repeatedly insulting him. He knows that, even if Jess was still alive, they'd just be friends now. They were comfort to each other during a really shitty time, but they'd been friends for some time before they were both sent to Afghanistan.

He laughs softly and runs a hand through his hair, remembering the one time they'd tried to go on a couple-y vacation. It had been a screaming disaster. People kept assuming that they were married or that it was some sort of romantic tryst for them. It was really just them wanting to sleep a lot, lie on the beach, and yeah, he'll admit it, have a lot of sex without worrying about getting caught or, maybe more importantly, blown up.

But the romance angle pushed by their hotel had driven them nuts. Jess in particular had been pissed about it. He laughs again, remember her stomping around muttering things like, "Goddamnit, we're just here to fuck and sleep. What the hell? Do I have to tell them straight out that we're just Friends With Benefits? Or Fuckbuddies. I like that better. It's more to the point."

His face falls slightly. She'd been killed on a convoy, her truck blown to bits by a barrage of RPG hits, only two months later. He clings to the memories of that trip because she was, more than anything, his best friend. He still misses her.

Bee whines softly, bumping against Poe's leg. He reaches down and scratches behind the dog's ears. "Sorry, Buddy. Just thinking. I know we still have a mile and change to go." Bee barks, and Poe laughs. "OK, Bee. Let's head home."

He stretches a little, and he's relieved that his knee seems to be doing well. The bad days scare him more than he is willing to admit even to himself. A ping from his phone tells him he has a text message, and he smiles when he sees that it's from "Sunshine." It just asks if she can raid his fridge and pantry to make breakfast. He replies yes, but tells her that she doesn't have to unless she wants to and that he'll be home in about fifteen minutes.

"Come on, Bee." He heads back up the road towards his house, and when he gets there, he's surprised to see an older model Subaru out front.

As he passes the car, he sees Finn on the front steps, clearly waiting for him. Bee barks happily and runs up to Finn, who scratches his ears. Poe had taken it easy all the way home, so he's barely winded. "Hey, Finn. Is everything OK?"

Finn looks unhappy. "Rey called me about Ben. She'd told me he was going to be there last night, so I'd asked her to just call after dinner to let me know she was OK." Finn gives him a hard look. "When she didn't call me, I called her. She told us she was here, invited me and Rosie for breakfast." Finn stands. "You slept with her? What the fuck, man?"

Finn's angry, judgmental tone and words bring Poe up short. "What?"

"She was emotionally compromised, and you slept with her?" Finn looks like he's about to take a swing at Poe. "She's at your house, wearing one of your shirts, and she's got some wicked beard-burn on her face, Poe. I know she told you what happened to her. You took advantage of her!"

Poe glares at his friend. "What is this, National Insult Poe Dameron Week? At least Rey only went after my profession. You're going after my damned character." Before Finn can say anything else, Poe says, "It's none of your business, Finn, but Han asked that I bring her here last night in case Ben came back. I agreed for Rey's sake, and because I honestly also wanted to be able to watch out for her. I'd intended to put her in the guest room. And yes, we're figuring out our shit, and that included a couple of make out sessions. But that's it, Finn. She was freaked out and didn't want to sleep alone."

He gets in Finn's face. "So, I guess, yes, I slept with Rey. But there was nothing but sleeping, Finn, except when I had to try to calm her down after she woke up whimpering and gasping like she couldn't breathe. With that, there was also some humming to her and rubbing her back so she'd go back to sleep."

Poe can see regret in Finn's face, but he's pissed off and tired of people making assumptions about him. He starts to say something else, when a voice interrupts him. "Poe, why don't you go get cleaned up? Breakfast is almost ready."

He and Finn both look up to see Rey standing there, arms crossed over her chest and mouth set in an angry line. Poe shoots one last glare at Finn, and then he goes up the steps. He pauses by Rey, and she looks at him, her face softening briefly. She murmurs, "I'm sorry, Poe."

He lets her see his hand, and then he cups her cheek, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Not your fault, Sunshine. I'll be out in a minute." He goes inside, Bee at his heels, still fuming but also pretty glad that he's not Finn right now.

X

Unbeknownst to Finn and Poe, Rey had come to the front door to ask Finn to come get a bowl from a high shelf for her. The door open when Poe jogged up, and the smile that had come to her face dropped immediately when she heard what Finn said to Poe. Her guilt over how she'd treated Poe returns in full force, but it's actually overwhelmed by her irritation with Finn.

As Poe goes inside, Rey flies down the steps, getting up in Finn's face just as Poe had. "How dare you, Finn? It wasn't two days ago that you were saying I should just jump into bed with him and start making babies, and now, you presume he's some sleazy asshole who would bang a girl who is in a bad place emotionally? What the hell? And to be clear, I am the one who asked to sleep in his bed, and if he hadn't stopped it, we probably would've had sex. Poe stopped it, not me. I thought you were his friend?"

Finn looks guilty, but he protests, "Damn it, Rey, he wasn't there two years ago. He didn't see what that asshole did to you! I did! I don't ever want to see you hurt again."

"Finn, I am a hell of a lot more likely to hurt him than he is to hurt me. I'm the one who is still pretty messed up, I am the one who has a hard time with any kind of trust," she pauses, swallowing hard, "I am the one who basically had a panic attack when Ben grabbed my arms last night, and Poe is the one who knew what to do, with a minor assist from Uncle Luke. Poe doesn't touch me without warning me or letting me see his hands first – you don't even do that! He offers to leave me his dog so I feel safe, he even gave me the alarm code for his house when he left for his run. One nightmare that I don't even remember notwithstanding, that was the best night of sleep I've had in almost two years!"

She pauses, trying to settle herself down. "I have a hard time with trust," she reiterates quietly, "And I trust him unreservedly. I guess I assumed, given that you were very clearly pushing me towards him, that you did, too. But you roared in here with assumptions that hurt him, Finn. That's not OK."

"I'm sorry, Scavenger." Finn looks down, clearly ashamed of himself.

Rey shakes her head. "You're not getting off that easy, Stormy. It's Poe who deserves your apology, not me." She gently places a hand on his arm. "I know you want to fight the world for me, Finn. I know that you probably would've killed Armitage if Dad had let you. I love you for wanting so badly for me to be safe, but I'm tougher than you think. Stop thinking of me as broken, OK? I'm not. Maybe a little cracked here and there, but we all are, even Poe. You can't have your picture of me be that girl in the hospital bed. You said it yourself. Don't let what he did become a prison."

Rey steps back from him, and Finn nods. "I hear you."

"Also, Finn? Don't ever talk to him like that again. I've known you a hell of a lot longer, but he has become very important to me in a very short time. You hurt him again, and you answer to me. Are we clear? I don't know if I can forgive this more than once." She frowns at him, arms crossed over her chest again.

He nods again. "We're clear."

She turns and goes back inside, Finn following. When they get to the kitchen, Poe is already there talking to Rose, who is finishing the eggs for the breakfast tacos Rey was making. He has changed into his cut-off sweats and a clean t-shirt, but Rey can see tension in his shoulders, so she comes up behind him. As he does with her, she says, "Behind you," and then she wraps her arms around his waist from behind, resting her head on his shoulder. She feels him relax against her, and his hand gently comes to rest on one of her arms.

After a moment, one where she can feel Finn's eyes on them, Finn says, "Poe, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Poe tenses a little again, but Rey can tell that he tries to act normal for Rose. "Sure, Finn. Rose, do we need to take anything out to the table? It's still nice enough for us to eat outside."

Rose nods, but she gives both Finn and Poe a funny look. She points to the pile of plates, silverware, salt and pepper, and a bowl of salsa that Rey repurposed from her taco delivery yesterday. "All of that stuff. Thanks, Poe."

Rey releases Poe, and he turns and again presses a soft kiss to her forehead. After that, Poe and Finn both gather up the indicated items, and they head out in silence. Rose looks at Rey once they're gone. "What did Finn do? Poe was not acting like himself."

Rey grimaces a little and shakes her head. "It's nothing, Rose. Something he and Poe need to work out, that's all."

Rose narrows her eyes, but she nods. "OK. But you know I'm going to make him tell me later, right?"

Cracking a genuine smile, Rey laughs quietly. "I do know." She has no doubt that the small but mighty woman can do it, too.

X

After they get outside and put things down on the table and set them out in silence, Poe turns to look at Finn. "What did you want to talk about, Finn?" Any attempt to act normal is gone, and Finn can likely see that Poe is still pissed off.

"I'm sorry, Poe. I was out of line. I didn't ask, I assumed, and that was not right." Finn shifts uncomfortably.

"You're right. It wasn't." Poe frowns. "Where the hell did that come from, Finn?" Poe wants to understand, because it was honestly out of character for Finn.

Finn sighs and goes to lean against the porch rail, staring out at the river. "I nearly killed the guy, you know? Leia probably told you everything, right? Rey's eye, all the bruises, me hitting Hux?"

Poe comes over and leans a hip against the rail, looking at Finn. "She did."

"She wasn't there in the hospital waiting room with me and Han – she was in Rey's room with her. Han just told her later that I laid Hux out with one punch. That part's true, but I hit him a few more times just in case. When Han realized I wasn't going to stop, he pulled me off of Hux. I'd broken his jaw, probably with the first punch." Finn sighs. "The hospital staff just told the cops that Hux fell. I think the ER doc who saw Rey when her roommate called 911 told the cops what Hux had done to Rey, because they all thanked me on their way out."

"I'd have done the same, you know," Poe's words are fairly gentle, but there is also a barb to them that Finn clearly feels.

"I know. I should have known. I just," Finn looks at him, "She just said it to me a minute ago – I want to fight the world for her. She was my best friend, the first person to treat me well when I ended up with a foster family near here. She didn't give a shit about how I ended up there, she just saw a kindred spirit in that broken, sad kid. I wasn't able to protect her from Hux, and I hate myself for it." Finn shoots him a rueful look. "So now, any perceived wrong? I'm afraid I'm going to punch first and ask questions later."

"Then I guess I'm glad you just were kind of a jerk instead of hitting me." Poe arches an eyebrow at him. "Finn, I really will let it slide this time, but honestly? I don't appreciate that you were so willing to believe that I'd be such a dick. That bothers me. A lot. I mean, I've known you over two years, Finn. When have I ever treated women like that, and seriously, how can you think I'd treat Leia and Han's daughter that way?"

Finn straightens up. "Shit. Yeah, when you put it that way, I sound like a major asshole."

"No arguments from me." Poe is still irked by Finn's words earlier, but he does understand the desire to protect Rey.

"I really am sorry, Poe. It was a knee-jerk reaction, but that's no excuse. I trust you, and more importantly, I trust you with Rey, who is basically like my little sister." Finn holds out his hand.

Poe takes it and shakes his hand. "At least she has one older brother who doesn't treat her like shit."

They drop hands, and Finn winces. "It was bad?"

"Yeah. It was. He grabbed her roughly, from behind. He scared the shit out of her. It took everything I had not to tear him apart." Poe scowls. "I told him I would if he ever touches her again."

"Son of a bitch. Seriously, Poe, I despise that guy. How did such a shithead come out of Han and Leia?" Finn shakes his head. "Was she OK?"

"Eventually. I had to carry her outside to get her away from him. She just needed a moment to calm down. But she was really upset. Leia and Han threw Ben out. Leia was really upset, too. I think Han also was upset, but it's harder to tell with him." Poe runs a hand through his hair.

They turn then, as the back door opens. Rey and Rose come out with a plate of breakfast tacos, and Poe chuckles. "More tacos?"

Rey shoots him an impish smile. "I told you I like tacos."

"Dude. She really does." Finn laughs.

Poe snorts. "Oh, I know. I have a bag of them in the fridge that proves that."

Finn goes to sit by Rose, and Rey catches Poe's eye, seeming to ask if he's all right. He gives her a quick nod and a shrug, and that appears to be good enough for her. She sinks into a chair, and he sits next to her. As they fill their plates, talk turns to school starting next week. Poe nearly jumps when he feels Rey's leg snake over to him, her bare foot hooking around his ankle. He looks at her, but she seems to be studiously ignoring him as she talks to Rose and feeds bits of egg to a recalcitrant Bee.

He just smiles and shakes his head. She definitely plays dirty. He finds himself intrigued by that. He also realizes that the tacos are really good. "So, Sunshine. You cook?"

She smiles. "Leia taught me." She rubs her foot on his leg, and he would swear that he's about to lose his mind.

They go back to eating, and half an hour later, with insistence from Poe that they can clean up, Rose and Finn leave for the airfield. Rey helps him bring everything inside, and he's washing the pan from the eggs when Rey comes up behind him, once again wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. Quietly, she asks, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah. I was honest with Finn – what bothered me is that he really thought I would be that much of a," he pauses, not wanting to be too off-color with her.

She finishes for him, though. "A dick?"

He chuckles. "Yes, that. And that I would be that much of a dick to you." He puts the pan down and turns in her arms. He leans back against the counter, and she leans in towards him, her hands resting low on his hips. "And you can't do that foot thing if we're with Han and Leia, because I honestly can't promise that I'll always be able to temper my reaction."

She grins. "And how did you want to react today? You have my advance permission to just show me, by the way."

She doesn't have to tell him twice. He just leans in to capture her lips, his hands sliding up her back and pulling her into him. The kiss is deep and possessive, and he's honestly not sure where it came from. He's not going to question it, though, and he slides his lips down to her neck and mutters, "Want to pick you up now."

He hits what must be a sensitive spot beneath her ear, as she gasps and breathes out, "OK." Her arms wrap around his neck.

He leans down, his hands sliding down her legs, and he lifts her up. Her legs go around his waist, and he moves, sitting her up on the counter in the corner of his kitchen. She keeps her legs around his waist, and his hands go down to her backside, dragging her to the edge of the counter. It actually makes her taller than him, giving him easy access to her neck. He thoroughly explores from her ear to her collarbone, brushing her hair out of the way.

He stops for a moment, hovering above her skin. Almost immediately, she protests, "Why'd you stop?"

He peers up at her. "Just waiting for your phone to ring. Leia has really shitty timing."

She huffs out a laugh, and he goes back to kissing her neck. Rey leans back on one hand, and the other anchors in his hair. Moving a long her shoulder, he pauses and sucks gently at the skin at the far end of her collarbone, making her gasp out, "Oh my God, Poe!"

She uses the hand in his hair to pull him back up to her mouth, their tongues tangling as they had in the window of her apartment the night before. After what feels like hours, she pulls back, leaning down and pressing her forehead to his, something that is becoming a normal thing for them. They're both breathing hard, and he mumbles, "Holy shit, Sunshine."

She laughs. "Yeah. Right there with you, Flyboy."

He leans away slightly, peering at her neck. He frowns when he sees slight discoloration on her collarbone. "Crap."

She blinks. "What?"

"I may have just given you a hickey. I haven't done that to a girl since flipping high school." He feels awful.

Giggling, she grins. "Seriously? You gave me a hickey?"

"On your collarbone. Sorry, Sunshine." He curses himself, as he's actually blushing.

"Why?" She cocks an eyebrow at him. "It felt good – insanely good, to be honest, and I have a dress that will cover it completely." Despite her light tone, he can't forgive himself. He looks down and tries to shift backwards, but she won't let him move away, her ankles crossing behind his back and holding him in place.

X

She's puzzled by how bothered he seems to be by something as silly as a hickey. He tries to shift back, but she isn't going to allow that. She puts two fingers under his chin and turns his face up to hers. He won't meet her eyes, and she frowns even more. "Flyboy, look at me. Please."

He finally meets her eyes, and he looks more upset than she could have imagined. "Poe, what?"

He blinks and softly says, "I never want to be the person who marks you, Sunshine. I never want to see you hurt in any way."

She sighs and, despite him pulling back in surprise, she presses her lips to his, slipping her hand back into his hair and trying to help him understand that she's not upset with him or in any way afraid. She pulls away, once again pressing her forehead to his. "Poe, you didn't hit me. You didn't throw things at me. You didn't push me down or kick me. You kissed me a little too enthusiastically. Please tell me you can see the difference, because there is definitely a difference."

After a beat, he nods. He leans in and brushes his lips back over the spot where she knows the bruise is blooming. He then hugs her to him, pressing his face into her neck. His arms tighten around her, and he says, sounding horrified. "What the hell did he throw at you?"

He pulls back and looks up at her, and she shrugs. "Shoes, a beer bottle, a wine bottle – that one fucking hurt – even a lamp. The wine bottle and the lamp were the night he basically tried to kill me."

"Jesus, Rey." He shakes his head. "Everything I hear about that asshole makes me want to kill him all over again." He looks back up at her. "Need a ride down?"

She smiles and nods, playing with his hair briefly before planting her hands tight on his shoulders. He gently pulls her forward and lowers her until her feet touch the floor. "Poe, I'm going to say something to you that I said to Finn earlier. You can't treat me like I'm broken, OK? I'm not made of glass, even if I still struggle now and then. Stop treating me like I will shatter. I won't."

He sighs. "I'm sorry, Sunshine. You're brave and strong. I just want to keep pain in any form away from you, you know?"

"I do know – you do get that I'm horrified that you hurt your knee helping me move in, right? And don't argue that it's not the same. It's exactly the same, at least to me." She kisses his cheek. "When you care about someone, you don't want them to hurt, period. It's that simple."

He reaches up, pausing so she can see his hand, and he cups her cheek. "Do you know how much I admire you?"

"If it's anywhere near as much as I admire you, it's a hell of a lot." She turns her head, kissing the palm of his hand. Looking back up, she says, "Now, I think we both need to get dressed. I have another meeting with Dr. A, at ten, and it's already eight."

She ducks out of his arms, and he follows her. Deciding that she really wants to blow his mind, she pauses and looks back over her shoulder at him. "And if it will make you feel better, I can just even the score tonight. Just let me know where you want yours."

His eyes widen. "My what?"

She grins and rather obviously looks him up and down. "Your hickey." She then winks at him and slips into his guest bathroom to shower, giggling and thinking that, based on the look on his face just now, teasing him may be her new favorite thing to do.

 **Note: A little shorter than usual, but that felt like a fun place to stop.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Angsty fluff and some outright fluff too. And yes, this story is actually going somewhere. And 8000 words this time. Happy weekend.**

 **By the way, yes, I am still working on Defining Balance, I just am really only able to focus on one narrative at a time. Between that and real life, well, I'll just note that yes, it'll be finished!**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Rey checked in with Han before they headed to campus, and he said Leia was fine and that they didn't need to come by. As Rey was talking to him, Poe had yelled out an invitation for them to come to dinner at his house the next day. They've already planned for him to drop Rey at Leia and Han's house to get her Jeep and her paddleboard, which she wants to use on the river by his house, while he runs to the local farmers-market and orchard type store to get some things for dinner with Han and Leia as well as for them to have around the house.

She'd shyly reminded him this morning of her plan to stay until he kicked her out, and he'd just reiterated that she can stay as long as she wants to. What surprises him is that he really means it. Waking up with her this morning had been pretty damned nice and watching her snuggle into his pillow after he got up was almost nicer. He really likes having her at his house. It strikes him that maybe he's been alone way too long. It was almost silly how much he liked making a grocery list with her, though he did tell her that dinner tonight is leftover tacos. She hadn't objected to that.

P oe now sits at his desk in his office on campus, reading through email messages from some of his students, both past and the ones who will start next week. He always has to sift out personal ones – some of his students, mostly female but some male as well, upon finding out that he's not married, have gone on the chase. Most take the hint quickly that he does not now and never will fraternize with students, they give up gracefully.

One, however, has been highly persistent, a girl named Madison Kelly. As he scrolls through his email, which he now gets blind cc:'d to a file in the school's Human Resources Department (at his request to protect himself), he scowls when the familiar name pops up. The girl, whose most recent email has the subject line of "hey, I'm 21 now!", took his Freshman History class his first semester here.

Back then, he was naïve, didn't know better than to be friendly. Even though he was always professional, she took the friendliness as some sort of expression of interest. He sighs. Despite the blind cc:, he forwards the email to his friend in HR with the bare statement that he hadn't even read the underlying email. His friend pings him back right away, asking Poe if he wants to have the young woman's advisor speak with her.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He calls his HR friend, who picks up on the first ring. "Should I, Connix? I'd say block her email address, but there's nothing stopping her from creating a new account." Her name is Kay Connix, and she's one of the HR contacts provided to professors when they start here.

"Poe, I think it's time to get tougher on her. At this point, she's skirting violations of the Code of Conduct, considering that I have copies of your emails asking her to stop using your email address for anything other than school-related business. She hasn't gotten your cell number, has she?" His friend sounds worried.

There's a tap on his door frame, and he looks up to see Rey standing there. They'd agreed to go to lunch, and he looks down and sees that it's after 12 already. She's dressed in another t-shirt dress, this one straighter and with a snug crew neck that hides her bruised collarbone. She has a hoodie tied around her waist, and she's wearing her Converse again. She looks about nineteen, briefly making him feel like a dirty old man, but he then reminds himself that she's twenty-eight, almost twenty-nine, and not a kid.

He grins and motions her in as he talks to Kay. "No. I don't give it out. They can email me or message through the school system, but if they want to talk to me, they have to call the office landline."

Rey looks worried by his end of the conversation, and he tries to give her a reassuring smile. He listens to Kay as she says, "OK, then maybe just come in and update your statement tomorrow, the one we have on file."

He nods. "Will do, Kay. Thanks."

They both say goodbye and hang up, and he turns his chair to look at Rey. She leans down and kisses him, and then she asks, "What was that about?"

He grimaces. "Persistent admirer of the undergrad variety."

She furrows her brow. "What?"

He stands, beckoning towards the door. He hesitates before putting his hand on her lower back as they walk, and she smiles and shakes her head before grabbing his hand and putting it there herself. "Only worry about it when I don't already know you're there. I like you putting your hand on my back – it actually makes me feel more safe, not less safe."

"Noted." He gives her a soft smile before growing serious again. "I actually should help you protect yourself a little. I imagine you'll have admirers, too."

"Seriously?" She looks unhappy at the thought as they step into the elevator. "Maybe I just should tell them you're my boyfriend. Maybe that will scare them off."

He blinks in surprise, but the door opens before he can respond. As they step off, Poe takes Rey's hand, entwining their fingers. Boyfriend and Girlfriend. He's never been a fan of the titles, but he realizes that he's pretty good with it when they're referring to him and her together.

He must wait too long to respond, because Rey tugs against his hand, making him stop walking just as they exit the building. "Poe? Is it OK that I said that? If you don't want to be serious or exclusive, I guess I can maybe live with it, I mean I don't want you to feel pressured or anything, and I know it's only been six days, and I know you were in Texas for part of that and I was insulting you for part of that and –"

He grins, leaning in and kissing her. When he pulls back, he says, "Sunshine, you can stop rambling. I'm in."

She bites her lower lip and looks at him. "OK. And I'm in, too." She tugs on his hand, suddenly smiling brilliantly. "Now come on. I bought lunch yesterday. Your turn today."

He laughs as he follows her. "When did we make that agreement? I thought those were Remorse Tacos. Apology Tacos."

"Maybe so, but I want some New Relationship Dim Sum now. And since I'm the one who said it first, you should buy." She stops and nods her head emphatically at him.

He cocks his head. "Again, when did we agree to that? The me paying thing, that is, not the New Relationship Dim Sum thing. After watching you with the tacos and the lobster rolls, I cannot wait to watch you demolish a tray of Dim Sum."

Before Rey can reply, a voice yells, "Dr. Dameron!" from across the quad. Poe looks over and groans. None other than Madison Kelly, undeniably attractive but not at all interesting to him, is bounding towards them. The girl is in a low cut, super-short sundress, her hair flame red and hanging to mid-back, and about ten pounds of make-up on her face.

Poe looks at Rey, and he knows his eyes probably hold a measure of panic. "Help me."

X

Rey is surprised by just how thrown this girl appears to have made Poe. Then she thinks, "The hell with it. He saved your life. You can at least protect him from a co-ed with a crush."

She lifts an eyebrow at him. "Is she watching us?"

Poe nods slightly, so Rey moves her hands up, threading both into his hair. His hands automatically go to her hips, and she gives him a devilish grin before pulling him to her, crushing her lips to his. He responds immediately, his arms wrapping around her waist as their bodies press tight together. Rey teases his lips with her tongue, and a moment later, they are making out like two teenagers in the back of a car instead of like two college professors in the middle of campus.

After about half a minute, Rey pulls back, but she gently catches his lower lip between her teeth and releases it before completely moving away. Rey murmurs, "She still there?"

He breathes in sharply through his nose as if the question surprised him. She's somewhat flattered that she can distract him so easily. He recovers and leans down to kiss the sensitive spot beneath her ear. "Yep. I'm going to introduce you."

He looks over at the girl. "Oh hi, Miss Kelly." He puts his hand back on Rey's lower back, crowding her slightly, trying to demonstrate some sort of connection without making Rey uncomfortable. "Welcome back. This is my girlfriend, Dr. Rey Kenobi, a new professor in the Aerospace Engineering program."

The girl looks frozen. Rey holds out her hand to shake. After a beat, the girl takes it. Rey smiles, deciding now is a time for kindness. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Kelly."

After swallowing hard, she squeaks, "You too, Dr. Kenobi," and bolts as if Rey had tried to set her on fire.

Poe drops his head to her shoulder and mumbles, "Oh my God, thank you. She's been following me around for two years."

Rey laughs softly. "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. She was only freaking nineteen, showing up to Freshman history dressed in outfits even more revealing than what you just saw." He straightens up, and she can see that he's serious. "I'd never pursue a student, but I was a little freaked out that she might create problems for me. I worked with HR and have a complete file on her there – copies of the emails she kept sending, all of that. I even kept an updated report on file with them."

"Wow." Rey blinks.

He rubs the back of his neck with one hand, wrinkling up his nose and giving her a half-smile. "One of the HR people calls me 'Captain Overkill,' but Kay is great. She has the file for me because she handles a lot of the sexual harassment trainings and stuff like that. She says she wishes more male profs reacted like I did. All I can say is that the girl makes me really uncomfortable."

Rey leans in, hugging him. "You are too good to be true, Poe Dameron."

He chuckles. "If by 'too good to be true' you mean 'hyper paranoid,' then yes. Yes, I am."

She presses a kiss to his cheek, then they continue on to the parking lot hand in hand. As they walk, she bumps him with her hip. "And now you really, really owe me lunch."

He laughs again, dropping her hand to hold both of his hands up in defeat. "You win, my beautiful hero. Dim Sum on me. There's a great place not far from here."

He opens the car door for her, but before she gets in, she leans in and murmurs, "You do know that wasn't much of a hardship for me, right?" She then presses a kiss to his cheek and sinks into the car as he grins and shakes his head.

Hours later, Rey watches as Poe's Porsche pulls away from her garage apartment. He'd offered to help her load up her paddleboard and anything else she wants to bring over to his house, but she'd shoo'd him away to go hit the store.

She shakes her head as she settles the paddleboard in the rack on her Jeep. She has never in her life fallen for a guy like she has fallen for Poe – even with her two serious (asshole) ex-boyfriends, she'd never even considered co-habitating. With Poe, it just feels completely normal, almost like a foregone conclusion. Other than statements about planning to stay until he kicks her out and her being allowed to stay as long as she wants to, she recognizes that she is, for all intents and purposes, moving in with him.

Blinking at that thought, she finishes securing her board, slips her new paddle and her lifejacket into the Jeep, and sits down on the stairs to her apartment. A moment later, she starts at the sound of footsteps approaching. She looks up to see Leia standing there. Leia looks at the board and then comes over to the step, sitting down next to Rey. "I knew that you'd stay there when Han told me he'd sent you home with Poe last night. You two just fit. I always had a feeling that you would."

Rey swallows hard. "It's not," she pauses, reaching for the word, "Official. It's more along the lines of me saying I'm staying until you kick me out and him basically responding that he's not going to kick me out. It's only been a week. It freaks me out a little, but only a little. It mostly just feels like I've known him my whole life. I'm so me when I'm with him – I've never been with someone who just wants me to be me. And I think he's just him."

Leia laughs and rolls her eyes. "You two are ridiculous. Wonderful, but also ridiculous." She looks at Rey, turning serious. "I'm sure Han has warned Poe about hurting you, but I'm going to do the same."

"The same? What do you mean?" Rey furrows her brow.

Leia reaches out and takes Rey's hand. "Don't hurt him, Rey. He's one of the best people I know. Don't do this if you're not certain. He's been alone a long time, and for him to let you in so easily? That's a big deal. When I'd go see him and Kes back when Poe was a teenager, Poe was always outwardly open and friendly, but you could feel a reserve behind it. Losing Shara wounded him deeply. He adores his dad, but he and his mom were just kindred spirits. I know, from talking to Kes, that he dated in high school and college – I mean, look at him – he was an outrageously cute teenager and you know the girls probably went nuts over him – but that it was never serious."

Rey suddenly remembers something. "Finn said he lost someone in Afghanistan?"

Leia nods and gets a faint smile on her face. "Yes, Jess. Jessika Pava. She was in the Air Force, too. They'd known each other for years. I'm not certain, but I think it was much more of a 'friends who have sex' thing than it was a grand romance, but you'd have to ask him about that."

"What happened to her?" Rey's voice is soft.

"She was on a convoy, and her truck was hit by RPGs, Rocket-propelled grenades. Poe was devastated. They were so close – I think she was his best friend." Leia sounds sad. "I only met her once. She was funny, irreverent, and more than a little crass. I liked the hell out of her."

Rey laughs. "I bet you did."

"Ask him about her, Rey. I think he'd probably like to have the chance to tell someone about her. But only ask him if you know you'll be OK with whatever his feelings for her were. You can't ask him and then make him feel uncomfortable sharing, you know?" Leia squeezes her hand.

Rey squeezes back. After a beat, she asks, "You told him all of it, didn't you? The bruises, my eye?"

"I did. I know you just fall back on the broken ribs and collapsed lung, but I really wanted him to understand and be careful with you." Leia sighs. "I know it wasn't really my place, but now that I'm retired, being a busybody is all I have to do. That and feed people."

Rey shakes her head and smiles. She knows that Leia is on the board of three charities as well as on the Audit Committee and Board of a Fortune 100 company. "It's OK, but can you stop doing that? I want to talk to him about things at my own pace."

At Leia's slightly embarrassed nod, Rey goes on, "And he's wonderful with me. He never startles me, always makes sure I know that he's going to touch me before he does." She releases Leia's hand and wraps her arms around her middle. "I also told him about the other stuff – mainly the way Armitage threw things at me a lot. He makes me feel safe, Mum. Completely safe."

"Just make sure that's not all it is, sweetheart. I know you need to feel safe, but that need will eventually fade. Make sure that safety isn't why you're with him." Leia's voice is kind, but her eyes are pure steel.

"It's not, Mum. He's kind and funny, he challenges me and doesn't let people push him around, but he also is forgiving. Of course, he's also in love with his car. Which, great car, but there's that." She frowns at Leia. "And he woke up, no alarm, at five thirty. No alarm! And he bounced out of bed to go run. At five thirty. What the hell is up with that?"

Leia laughs. "Military, sweetheart. He's military."

"But when he's embarrassed, he does this thing that's so damned cute," Rey begins.

Leia finishes for her. "Rubbing his hand on the back of his neck while making a sort of self-conscious face?"

"Yes! It's so adorable!" Rey grins.

"Wait, why did you end up telling him about the throwing things?" Leia looks surprised. Rey blushes lightly and pulls the neck of her dress aside to show Leia the hickey on her collarbone. Leia actually cackles at the sight. "OK, hickey. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Rey shrugs. "He was so upset when he realized that he did that – bruised me – I just told him it was different from all the shit Armitage did to me, and I listed the hitting and pushing and also the throwing things at me."

"Rey, have you two," Leia pauses, and Rey figures out quickly what Leia wanted to ask.

"No! Not yet. I'm fairly sure it's not far off, but we haven't really done much more than you saw last night." She grins again. "He's apparently afraid of co-eds, by the way." Leia shoots her a funny look at that, and Rey motions with her head up the stairs. "Come help me throw a few things in a bag, and I'll tell you about it."

"Oh, I can't wait." Leia follows Rey up the stairs, and whether it's here or twenty minutes away at Poe's house, she realizes that she is almost unreasonably happy to be home.

X

At home, Poe unloads the groceries and some flowers he got for Rey and carries them into the house. After he puts them into the kitchen and stopping briefly to put the things that need refrigeration away, he goes into the mudroom where Bee hangs out during the day. Bee barks excitedly, bumping Poe's legs but then shooting to the front of the house. It only takes Poe a moment after Bee whines piteously to realize that the dog is looking for Rey and can't find her.

Poe scratches Bee's ears. "I know, Buddy. She'll be back soon." Even with the reassuring words, Bee's tail droops uncharacteristically. Poe smiles and shakes his head. He opens the door, and the dog darts out into the front yard, the area secured with an invisible fence. As he watches Bee run around, he pulls out his phone and sends Rey a text that he moved his SUV into the tandem space, so she can pull into the open part of the garage. He also adds that Bee misses her.

His phone buzzes a moment later, and he looks the screen. He laughs at the string of heart and dog emojis. It buzzes again with a text that she's leaving and will be home in twenty minutes. His breath catches a little at the word "home."

Standing in the doorway, he looks around his living room, and he wonders what this place might start to look like if she just moves in with him for real. He knows she doesn't have a lot of stuff, but maybe she likes flowers or plants or, God help him, throw pillows. Right now, he knows it's a bit spartan – his comfortable navy blue sofa with a matching chair and ottoman, heavy coffee table, and a very large big screen TV. Leia did hang artwork, a lot of photographs of the Sound and a few she found for him that are from Colorado, one of the Air Force Academy from an aerial view and the others of the Rockies. The only other element Leia insisted on is the colorful rug that covers the hardwood floors under the coffee table.

There are two loaded bookshelves on one wall with room for a third. There is one shelf on one of them that Poe reserved for photos – there are ones of his mom and dad's wedding, a framed collage of pictures with him and his mom, him and his dad when Poe was a baby and then at his graduation from the Academy, one of him with Leia and Han, also at his graduation, and one of him with Jess on their vacation and another of him and Jess at their base in Afghanistan.

He wonders briefly if he should put away the ones of him and Jess, but he decides against it. He can't ignore that part of his life, and he doesn't want to despite all the pain it caused. He touches the one from their vacation, taken by another vacationer out on the beach. He smiles at it, tapping his finger softly near Jess. "You'd like her, Pava."

As he says it, he hears the sound of her car on his driveway. He goes back to the door, opening it up and letting Bee shoot out in front of him. He follows as the dog literally bounds towards Rey, who drops to her knees and lets Bee lick her face. Like a kid, she leans forward and actually hugs the dog, and Poe stops and takes a photo with his phone when Bee makes a happy sound and drops his fuzzy head to Rey's shoulder.

When he gets to them, Rey releases Bee and holds her hands up to him. He takes them both and gently pulls her to her feet. She smiles and leans in, kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you for making room in the garage, but you didn't have to, Poe. I could've just parked outside the garage."

"Nonsense," he disagrees. "There's room, Sunshine. Why leave your Jeep outside when it's not necessary?"

He walks to the side of the Jeep and steps up on the running board, taking the straps off of her paddleboard and lowering it to the ground. She is there to take it, and she asks, "Where should I put it?"

"I have a storage room outside at the back of the garage, but I was actually thinking that we've got a fair amount of daylight left and should also take advantage of the not-too-cold weather while we can. Why don't we change and hit the river?" He lifts a questioning eyebrow.

She claps her hands. "I'd love that! I needed to hit the gym on campus today and didn't have time." He takes the board from her and leans it against the garage wall for now. Then, he grabs the large duffel out of the back of her Jeep, handing the second, smaller one to her. As they walk towards the house, she says, "Thank you for letting me take one. Finn and Dad both act like picking up anything even remotely large will damage me."

He smiles and shrugs. "Sunshine, I know you well enough already to know that you want to feel safe, not coddled."

She tucks her free arm through his, and she nods. "Exactly."

When they get to the house, she releases his arm, and they take her bags to his bedroom. They just put them aside for now, and he says, "I need to go put some groceries away, then I can come change."

"I'll help," she offers, "Then we can head outside faster."

"Sounds good." She follows him into the kitchen, and she stops in her tracks at the huge bouquet of sunflowers on the counter. He picks them up and hands them to her. "I thought about roses, but that seemed sort of like it's been done a million times. Sunflowers felt more appropriate. I hope you like them."

She comes over and takes them from him, holding them with one hand and gently touching the petals with the other. "They're perfect, Flyboy," she says softly.

He smiles, but it falls quickly when he sees that she has tears in her eyes. "Sunshine, what's wrong?"

She blinks a few times, clearly fighting the tears. "The only people who've ever given me flowers are Mum and Dad." She loses the battle, and one tear escapes, rolling down her cheek. She moves into him, putting the flowers down and almost burrowing into his chest, clinging to his shirt. "Thank you."

He wraps his arms around her and pulls her tight to him, completely taken aback by her reaction. How could no man have ever bought this woman flowers? They very idea actually irritates him, which he knows is irrational. "Are you OK, Rey? I didn't mean to upset you."

She shakes her head, which is still pressed into his chest. "Happy tears," she squeaks, and he laughs.

"All right, then I'm going to finish with the groceries?" He phrases it like a question, and she nods. She lifts her head, and she immediately leans in, pressing her lips to his. He slides his hand up to cup the back of her head, but he lets her guide the kiss. The last few times they've done this, it has been a rapid build of heat, feeling like they're moving towards something inevitable. This one, though, is sweet like their first one was, unhurried, and it warms him from the inside in a different, far more innocent way.

After a moment, she pulls back. She smiles sheepishly. "So, I guess you can say that I like the flowers." He snorts affectionately at that, making her bite her lip in an adorable way. "Do you have a vase?"

He nods. "Entryway cabinet by the front door. Hope it works, because it's the only one I have. Your mom brought flowers over when I finally moved in here."

She laughs and nods, leaving to go get the vase as he applies himself to sorting through the groceries on the counter. He thinks about her reaction to the flowers, and he makes a note that he really needs to learn which ones she likes and doesn't like, because he's going to be buying them until they don't make her smile anymore.

X

Rey is still overwhelmed by the flowers, and she feels ridiculous for getting so emotional about them. It's not just that he bought them for her, but he bought them for her for no other reason that he wanted to buy her flowers. She swallows hard, wondering what she did right to end up here. She goes to the cabinet he mentioned, and she finds the large, simple vase there. Looking at it, she nods. It's big enough for most of the stems, and she has an idea for the ones that don't fit.

Heading back to the kitchen, she notices the bookshelves in the living room. She pauses, looking at some of the titles. Her eyes scan the shelves for a moment before coming to rest on the shelf of pictures. She puts the vase down on the floor by her feet and spends a moment scanning the photos.

She loves the ones of Poe's parents, and she notes that his mother was breathtakingly beautiful. His dad is handsome, too, and she smiles at the ones from Poe's graduation, both of his dad and of her parents. She now remembers them leaving her with friends for one night when she was about fourteen, saying they were going to the graduation of the son of a family friend.

Her eyes then land on two pictures of Poe with a woman close to Rey's size, but with slightly darker skin and a more solid-looking build – strong, clearly athletic. She looks at least partly of Asian descent, with beautiful black hair and warm brown eyes. Poe is younger in the pictures than he is now, and the one from what she assumes is Afghanistan is a startling reminder of his old life. She touches that photo, and it actually makes her happy because he seems as happy as he could be given the situation, obviously completely at ease with the woman sitting next to him on the back of a Humvee.

"That's Jess."

His quiet voice makes her jump, and she pulls her hand back quickly. She turns to see him standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be nosy. I just saw the pictures, and," she takes a breath, looking towards him and meeting his eyes. "Your mother was beautiful."

He walks over to her. "Yes, she was. And you weren't being nosy. It's not like I had the pictures hidden away." They fall silent, and he finally says, "Sunshine, you can ask me about her if you want to, or you can not ask me. Either way is fine, I promise."

Rey blushes lightly, and she confesses, "Mum mentioned her, and so did Finn. Finn just told me that you lost someone in Afghanistan; Mum was a little more detailed."

Poe rubs his temples with the tips of his fingers. "I need to talk to my Godmother about letting me actually be the one to tell you things instead of her."

"I told her the same thing already, after she confessed that she told you about all of my injuries."

His hand comes up hesitantly, fingers gently tracing her brow line and down the skin on the outside of her right eye. He shakes his head. "She's probably bored."

"That's what she said," Rey throws up her hands and then leans down to pick up the vase, "But she's seriously on multiple boards of directors, Poe!"

He chuckles, following her back to the kitchen. "After twelve years as a Senator, Rey, I'd guess that boards are pretty tame and uneventful."

"Maybe so." She goes to the sink to fill the vase with water. "Scissors?" He gets some from a drawer, putting them next to the flowers and then perching on a barstool. She puts the partially-filled vase on the counter, and then she fetches a mason jar she'd seen this morning when making breakfast. After filling it with water too, she goes to work on the flowers. She can feel his eyes on her while she trims the flowers gently, snipping the bottom of the stems at an angle and arranging them first in the vase and then adding a few, cut shorter, to the mason jar.

She finishes filling both vases with water, and she puts the big vase here in the kitchen, loving how the happy yellow flowers lighten up the already-airy space. She then picks up the mason jar and beckons to him to follow her. He does, Bee close behind them, and she puts them in the bedroom, on the table on what she already thinks of as her side of the bed.

She knows she needs to acknowledge what he said about being open to questions about Jess. She realizes, though, that she doesn't necessarily want to do it here. She looks at him. "So, river?"

He nods, and she's relieved to note that he doesn't look upset with her at all. She grabs her smaller duffel and, mentally acknowledging that despite the near co-habitation and the bed-sharing, they're not yet in the "changing in front of each other" place. "Meet you at the back of your garage?"

Ten minutes later, they meet up, him in a full-leg wetsuit this time, but still sleeveless, and her in some hydroskin capris and a pullover long-sleeved shirt made for kayaking and paddleboarding. Poe beat her outside, and Bee is already in his little lifevest and the kayak is sitting there with his paddle. Rey had stopped to grab her own lifevest and paddle from her Jeep, and she slips on the vest. "I assume there's an optimal place to put in?"

He nods. "It's not far."

Gathering their gear, he moves towards the river, Bee heading out in front, and Rey follows close behind. She stumbles once, blushing slightly when she realizes that it was because she was paying more attention to how he looks in his wetsuit than to the path. Minutes later, they're pushing off, Rey following close behind him and Bee on the kayak. They pretty easily find a pace that works for them both, and they move along the river in companionable silence, with him just pointing things out here and there and occasionally waving to a neighbor.

Rey loves the feeling of peace this gives her. She's always more centered on the water, and the exertion clears her head a little. After about half an hour, they stop at a spot he points out, sharing a bottle of water. Despite Poe's admonishing him, Bee splashes into the shallow water, throwing water everywhere. Rey just giggles as she brushes water off of herself and her paddleboard, where she's sitting cross-legged.

He peers at her legs, cringing. "If I tried to sit like that, I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be able to walk for a week."

She gives him a rueful grin, noting that his left leg is bent and hanging off the kayak into the water while his right is up on the kayak, stretched out flat. "How is it feeling?"

"About normal. Running this morning was good for it. Warming it up helps a lot."

She cocks her head. "What do you do in the winter?"

"I have a bike and a treadmill in the basement. I should have told you. You can go to the campus gym, but you can also go down there. I even have some weights." He hands her the water and leans back on his hands.

She eyes the very well-toned muscles in his arms, defined because he has his weight on them. "I see that." She actually leers at him.

He rolls his eyes and flicks some water at her. "Stop."

Now that they're both relaxed in the edges of the late summer afternoon, she builds up her courage and says, "I'd like to hear about her if you want to tell me."

He pulls one hand through his hair and closes his eyes briefly. "What do you want to know? And I don't mean that defensively. Just, you know, where should I start?"

Minding her balance, she uncurls on leg and slips off her water shoe, reaching out and resting her foot against his leg. "Maybe at the beginning? How did you meet her?"

"At the Academy. She was a year behind me, but we became friends over a shared geeking out over military history." He smiles. "I think most of the other Cadets were afraid of her. She could even take me down in hand-to-hand. She'd been training in kickboxing since she was little. We were both already licensed pilots, her on choppers, which was awesome. That's what she flew in Afghanistan, too."

She looks at him expectantly, hoping he'll go on. He reaches down and rubs her foot. "I can tell you the whole story, Sunshine, but we should head back. I'd rather not be out here after the sun goes down. It gets colder, and I don't have a light for your board." He gives her a crooked smile. "That, and there are leftover tacos and a bottle of wine in the fridge back at the house."

She nods. "OK." She pulls her leg back, slipping her shoe back on. Poe calls Bee, and the dog leaps from the shore where the kayak is banked into his spot, both Rey and Poe laughing when the dog, carried by his own momentum, nearly pitches headfirst right off of the kayak. It's only Poe grabbing the back of the dog's lifevest that keeps Bee from going in. They're both still laughing as they paddle back up the river, Rey relieved that Poe doesn't seem tense or reticent after her questions.

X

Poe spends most of the way home thinking about how to try to explain Jess to Rey; in the end, he settles on complete honesty. Both Jess and Rey deserve that. Once they're home, with the paddles, the kayak, and her board stored in the area at the back of the garage, they both go in to grab a quick shower and change. He'd just smirked when she emerged from the guest bathroom in yoga pants, thick socks, a tank top, and his hoodie. He's back in his home uniform – t-shirt and cut-off sweats.

As Poe gets the food warmed up, Rey dries the dog. Bee had growled softly when Poe approached him with a hair dryer, but the traitorous canine just rolled over and submitted to the same from Rey, making Poe glare and say, "I see how it is," as Rey laughed out loud. He loves how much he laughs with her, despite both of their histories.

After the tacos are warm (if slightly soggy – he will wager that won't stop Rey) and the bottle of wine from the same orchard and farm store where he got the food is open, she helps him take everything outside to the table. After lighting a citronella candle to ward off the thinning mosquito population, he settles in a chair, and she sits to his right. At her offer, he gladly settles a little sideways and puts his right foot in her lap, letting him elevate his knee for a while.

They keep the conversation light while they eat, but once he's done and into his second glass of wine, he starts to tell her about Jess. The early part of their relationship was entirely and truly just friendship. She stops him. "When did that change?"

"Honestly? Never. We were always friends first. But when we were on our first tour in Afghanistan, we just sort of fell into something more like friends with benefits, for lack of a better way to say it."

Rey hesitates before saying, "Would it be horribly inappropriate for me to ask how it started? How you fell into it?"

Poe studies her for a moment, and he sees only curiosity – not jealousy or discomfort – so he smirks. "Well, Jess made a career of being inappropriate, so I'd call that bush league inappropriateness, not horrible, Sunshine."

They exchange a smile, and he goes on, "The story is as funny as anything can be in Afghanistan. She managed to have her own room on the base, this tiny shoebox of a space, and we would hang out there to get some quiet. I'd been cranky all day, biting the heads off of my unit. I was sprawled back on her bed, and she'd been stretched out on the floor – her own bed killed her back – when I informed her that one of the guys in my flight group had told me that I really needed to get laid."

Rey snorts, and he grins. "She basically made that exact sound. But then she surprised the hell out of me. I had my eyes closed, so I didn't see her get up. One moment she was on the floor, the next moment she was on the bed straddling me."

Rey's mouth drops open as she blinks in surprise. "What?"

He shrugs. "Yeah, my face probably looked just like yours right now." He brushes a hand through his hair, and he can't help but smile at the memory. "Anyway, I asked her what the hell, and she just leaned over me and said something like, 'I need to get laid too, and I trust you. Why the hell not?'" He shakes his head. "I hesitated for half a heartbeat, and, pardon the language, she looked me in the eye and said, 'So, you going to fuck me or not, Dameron?' After that, well, we were going at it."

Rey blushes lightly, but she smiles as she rubs his leg. "I definitely would have liked her."

"She would have liked you, too. She would've liked how you give me a hard time, and she really would have liked how much you clearly already have my back." He reaches over and covers her hand on his leg with his.

"Was it serious? Once again, inappropriate, I know." She looks a little shy with him, but he isn't bothered.

Again, as he looks at her, he only sees curiosity and a desire to understand, so he answers honestly. "Yes and no. It's complicated, I guess. We did that for two years. I loved her," he sees her blink at that, but he goes on, "But I wasn't in love with her, if that makes any sense. It was comfortable and safe, not romantic. It was stress-relief on a bad day, celebration when we survived a bad day, and even mourning when someone we knew didn't survive one of those bad days. But it was serious in that we were definitely monogamous. We both brushed off approaches. We were completely exclusive."

"The picture from the beach?" She asks, still slightly hesitant.

He knows he surprises her when he laughs at that question. Once he tells her about the trip and the hotel driving them crazy with the romance angle. He goes quiet then. "She died two months after that trip. The other picture, on the back of the Humvee?" She nods, and he goes on, "That was two days before she was killed."

Hoping Rey can take it, Poe decides to tell her a story that no one but those in his post-mission debrief knows – not Leia, not his dad, not Finn. "I was flying air support for a convoy she was on. I knew she was in one of the transport trucks, riding along to a field post where they had an injured chopper pilot and needed someone to help bring a bird back to the base. They were ambushed. Ground forces with RPG launchers - just so many RPG launchers. There was a general in the convoy. We think they found that out somehow."

He takes a deep breath, surprised to find himself blinking back tears. "We came in, firing at the people shooting at the convoy, but I had to cover the Humvee with the general in it. That was my assignment. I stayed with it, but we were screaming over the radio for more air support. No one was close enough. I heard it when her truck went up, even as we got the general to safety." He closes his eyes and pulls his leg out of Rey's lap, putting his feet on the deck.

He hears her chair move, and suddenly he can sense her kneeling in front of him. Her hands come to rest on his knees, but she stays quiet, doesn't push. Eventually, he takes a deep breath and says quietly, "Twelve people died. Two trucks' worth. There wasn't enough left of her to send home, really. I actually took comfort in that. I know she didn't suffer."

Rey has tears on her face when he opens his eyes, and he loses his fight against his own. She puts her hands on his chair and pushes herself up, still kneeling between his legs and but now hugging him to her. "I'm so sorry, Poe."

His arms go around her, and he leans into her, pressing his face into her neck. It's funny, he thinks; he suddenly feels lighter than he has in a while. He pulls back slightly and presses his forehead to hers. "Sunshine, one thing I want you to understand – something that made me feel really bad for a while but that I came to terms with later – it would have ended. We were compatible friends and even lovers, but we would have killed each other in a situation like this. We actually drove each other nuts a lot, but that was part of the fun with her – we could be downright combative."

She pulls away a little. "Poe, you don't have to –"

He cuts her off. "I'm not just saying it, Rey. It's the truth. If she was still alive, I know we'd still be friends and likely still close, but we would not be in the same kind of relationship. And Rey, that's OK with me. Like I said, it bothered me when it first occurred to me, but it doesn't really anymore. It just is."

"What made you realize it?" She runs a comforting hand through his hair.

He reaches under his t-shirt and pulls out his necklace, the chain that holds his mom's wedding ring. "This is my mom's wedding ring, as I'm sure Leia already told you." He lightens the moment briefly, arching an eyebrow at Rey. She blushes, an easy confirmation, and he kisses the tip of her nose and goes on, "I've worn it since she died. The only time I really took it off was when it was required at school and when I was in the hospital with my knee. Leia held it for me then."

Rey scoops the end into her hand, sliding her fingertip along the well-worn white gold band, etched with an intricate design. "It's beautiful."

He nods. "Anyway, I plan to wear it until the day I give it to the woman I want to marry." Rey's eyes snap up to his. "I realized that I never once thought about giving it to Jess, not in two years in a relationship."

"Oh," Rey says quietly.

"Yeah, oh." Poe offers her a rueful smile. "That pretty much made me see what we were, and once I got past it, it was actually OK."

His arms are still loosely around her, so he pulls her close again, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. Rey sighs into his kiss. After a moment, he pulls back, deciding that he wants her to understand completely. "Sunshine, I think I should tell you – and I really hope this doesn't send you running for the hills – in less than a week, I've already imagined you wearing this ring more than once."

She gasps and looks at him, her eyes once again blinking in shock. Then, a smile slowly blooms on her face. She leans in, kissing him in a way that is back to their path to something inevitable. She pulls back after a moment, standing up and offering him her hands. He takes them, and she pulls him to his feet. The moment he's standing, she presses her lips back to his, and he can tell this is something different. When she pulls back this time, she murmurs, "Take me to bed, Flyboy."

He stares into her eyes, looking for any sign of hesitation. Seeing none, he breathes out, "Are you sure, Sunshine? We don't have to yet."

"I'm sure."

Without anything further, he mumbles, "Picking you up now," and at her nod, he scoops her up bridal-style, carrying her into the house and to his bedroom, amazed that he's entirely certain of this as long as he knows that she is. When he gets to the bedroom door, Rey laughs as he closes the door in the dog's face, grumbling, "She's mine tonight, foul beast."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: So, Fluff alert. Frisky fluff, but I'm keeping it T – it's close to the edge, but I don't think it needs to go to M. It's not quite as talky as my usual, but still heavy on dialogue, because that's how I roll. But it's not all fluff – just be warned. There's more on what happened to Rey plus a look inside Poe's head.**

 **FYI, the rest of this week is very busy – may not update again until the weekend.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

An hour later, Rey's head is resting on Poe's shoulder, and she's curled into his side. She's drawing idle patterns on his chest with her fingertips, and the hand of his arm around her is doing the same thing to her hip. Every nerve ending in her body feels like it's singing. She's had good sex in her life, but this was different. This was beyond good, but it also felt entirely, completely right – which doesn't make logical sense, given how quickly they got here.

She's a little lost in her own head for a moment. What he told her about his mother's ring earlier took her breath away. They're moving almost lightning fast, she knows that, but for some reason she's not afraid. He stops with the light touch, his hand gripping her hip gently. "Penny for your thoughts, Sunshine."

He sounds a little worried, so she turns her head and presses a kiss to his chest. Then she reaches over and plays with the ring on the chain around his neck. "You surprised me, Flyboy."

He leans over and nuzzles the top of her head. "I'd have thought basically letting you move in to my house after less than a week knowing you might've given you a heads up. And they say men are terrible at taking hints."

She tickles his side, making him laugh, but then she grows serious. "Mum didn't say it, but she's worried about how fast we're moving."

After reaching back to turn on the small lamp on his nightstand, he shifts down, helping her settle her head on his pillow so that they're facing each other. "What do you think, Rey? I mean, it's not like we're nineteen here. I'm thirty-six and you're nearly twenty-nine. You know I have the utmost respect for Leia, but honestly, Sunshine, the only ones who have to really be on board here are the two of us." They hear a whine and a scratch from the other side of the door, and with a smirk, Poe amends, "The three of us. Give me a second."

She watches as he gets up and goes across the room, letting Bee in. Damn. If he looks good in a wetsuit (or, she thinks, sweats, jeans, t-shirts, anything really), he may look even better naked. As he comes back to the bed, a huffy Bee jumps on and curls up by her legs. Poe seems to notice her watching him, and without any hint of self-consciousness, he arches an eyebrow at her and says, "Like what you see, Dr. Kenobi?"

"Well, considering that Finn caught me checking out your ass at the airfield on Monday, I should probably just cop to the fact that yes, Dr. Dameron, I find you physically appealing." She doesn't even try to disguise her leer.

He shakes his head and climbs back in the bed, again getting on his side so he can face her. "As I was saying, the only people," she snorts at his wording change, "Who matter here are you and me. I mean, I want Han and Leia to be OK with it, but it's far more important to me that you are."

She nods. She thinks for a moment, and then she asks, "This is going to sound so ridiculous, but do you believe in soulmates? Or love at first sight?"

He shrugs a little. "I don't know about first sight – I'm pretty sure I scared you a little at first sight – but soulmates? Maybe, I guess. Or something like soulmates. People who are highly compatible, who just seem to fit and to fit almost immediately. That's what we feel like to me, give or take a few days. I do know that I think if you walked away from me right now, I'd be pretty bereft. As ridiculous as it sounds, it feels a lot like I've always known you."

She frowns. "First, you didn't scare me, per se. It wasn't really about you."

He nods. "Fair enough, Sunshine."

She adds, "Second, it's not ridiculous. I feel the same way, like I've always known you. I've never had that feeling with anyone before. And I'd be bereft, too."

He leans in and kisses her quickly. "I will admit that when I first saw you on the river that day, I had to force myself to stop staring at you. To borrow your line, yes, Dr. Kenobi, I find you physically appealing. By the way, I feel stupid for not recognizing you – it's not like I'd never seen a picture of you. Leia would send pictures to Dad now and then, and he'd show them to me. I just didn't connect it up. But they were from when you were a lot younger."

"Same here. Mum doesn't keep a lot of personal stuff around where people can see it, but she did have some photos here and there. It occurs to me that you are in at least a couple of them." She smiles sheepishly. "I think the only ones I saw, though, were from college on, so your hair was a lot different, and you were usually in uniform."

He grins. "So, short hair or long hair like this?"

"Long!" Her answer is immediate. She reaches up and runs a hand through it. "You cannot change this. It's amazing."

"Yes ma'am." He reaches up and pulls her hand down, kissing the back of it. "I wasn't going to change it anyway. You may have noticed in that last picture of me and Jess, I didn't pay much mind to the regs. Just kept it short enough to keep my CO off my back and to make sure it didn't mess with my helmet. As much as I like it longer, I didn't keep it so long as to create risks. I grew it longer during rehab, then figured out where I wanted it."

"How long was your recovery?" she asks quietly.

He sighs. "A full year, including recovery from the surgeries."

"More than one?" She frowns.

"Two. There were two. They had to try to repair some things in the first one, Sunshine, then they had to let those initial repairs heal. The second was a full knee replacement, which likely will have to be redone to some extent as I get older, but I try to take good care of it so it will hold up as long as possible. Really, the joint was just gone. There was so much damage, and I was honestly lucky that I didn't bleed out in the Medevac." He cringes at the memory. "It hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. I lost consciousness in the chopper because of it. I woke up the next day to Leia sitting next to me. I hadn't even known that she was one of the Senators in the plane we were protecting."

She squeezes his hand. "She told me that she's the one who had to tell you that," she pauses, not sure how to say it.

"That my career was over? Yeah. In the end, I'm glad I heard it from her and not from my CO. My CO was a decent guy, don't get me wrong, but honestly, it was better hearing it from someone who I knew cared about me personally, someone I'd known since I was a kid." He pauses. "Not my favorite memory, though. At the time, I was devastated. I'd lost Jess the year prior, and then I felt like I lost everything else. Being a fighter pilot was a huge part of my identity, you know?"

"How did you manage your coursework for your Ph.D.?" She's genuinely curious.

"I found a flexible program, and I was always doing things in person when I was stateside." He shrugs. "I made it work. I was able to finish my dissertation and my last two seminars during rehab, and I had my job here as soon as I'd defended. Pretty sure Leia had something to do with that, but I was happy. You know I lived with them for a while, right? With Leia and Han?"

"I assumed something like that when Mum told you to go change for brunch in the room you usually borrowed." She nods.

"Yeah, I was there over a year."

"Wait, over a year?" She blinks. "I know I came home for Christmas that year. Where were you?"

He appears to think for a moment. "Texas. I went and spent time with Dad. That trip was interesting, as it taught me two things about commercial air travel – one, I need legroom. I have to be able to stretch my leg out. And two, I set off metal detectors in a big way. Between the replaced knee and the other plates and screws in there, I light those damned things up like a Christmas tree."

"I don't want to be macabre, but can I look at it?" She knows the question is odd, but there's something she wants to do.

"Sure." He shrugs, sitting up and pulling the covers back.

She leans over, examining the network of scars that covers the skin of his right leg. She lightly traces her fingers over the lines, making him twitch. She frowns. "I'm sorry. Does it still hurt?"

He shakes his head and gives her a small smile. "No, that just tickled."

She moves her hand away and twists to show him her side. He peers at it, his eyes landing on a tattoo there. He examines it for a moment before asking, "Phoenix?"

"Yes. I got it a year ago, on the one-year anniversary of me ending up in the hospital. LA has a lot of really decent tattoo parlors. I researched them until I found one who specialized in what I wanted."

He looks curious. "What do you mean, phoenixes? It's beautiful, by the way."

"Not phoenixes, though this artist does a fair number of them, both for the symbolism and because of what you can do with the tail feathers." She takes his hand and guides his touch over the tattoo. When his fingertips brush what she was trying to show him, he draws in a quick breath. She murmurs, "Chest tube scar." She keeps moving his hand where the tail of the bird trails down her side to her hip. He gasps again. "Shattered glass. When he shoved me down, I was only in my bra and panties. There was broken glass, shards of a wine glass he threw at me, on the floor. He left me there, bleeding and gasping. My roommate found me and dialed 911 and then Dad."

X

Poe feels ill at the further understanding of what Rey's ex did to her. He'd felt a few scars when they were making love a while ago, but he didn't realize how extensive they were until just now. "Jesus, Rey. How did they only give that son of a bitch five years?"

"Plea bargain." He starts to protest, but she holds up a hand. "I agreed to it. A trial would've meant publicity – Mum was still in the Senate when it happened, Poe. I just wanted it over. If he hadn't agreed, I'd have dealt with the publicity, let it go to trial, testified, all of it. But in the end, not fighting the DA on the plea bargain was better. It's a miracle – owed mostly to the staff at the hospital but also to the DA who made it part of the plea – that it didn't get out back then. With Mum retired now and me fully recovered, it wouldn't be big news if someone found out today."

He feels pure rage in his chest, rage at the piece of shit who would damage her like this, who would damage any other person like this. She takes his hand again, and almost as if she can read his mind, she says, "Breathe, Poe. I'm OK. I'm here. He's in prison. Just breathe."

He takes several deep breaths. "How could anyone do that to another person?"

"Hey, someone did this to you, Poe." She touches his knee again.

"Sunshine, that was when I was deployed as active duty military. I was flying a fighter jet, shooting at the same people who got me. It's not the same. I signed up to serve my country, but I knew that being in danger, risking injury or death was part of the deal."

"I know, but it still pisses me off that someone hurt you." She furrows her brow.

He settles back down in the bed, on his back this time. He holds out an arm to her, and she settles next to him, curling into his side, head on his shoulder. He reaches up and turns off the lamp.

After a moment, just as he's starting to get sleepy, she quietly says, "Can we have a topic change for a moment?"

He blinks. "OK."

"This is going to sound a little out of the blue, and I feel like it's a conversation most people have before they get to where we are, you know, me basically moving into your house." She pauses, and he waits patiently, with no idea at all where she's going with this. Eventually, she asks, "Do you want kids?"

He doesn't even have to think about it. "Yes. Not a ton of them, maybe one or two, but yes. Maybe in a few years. I'm not getting any younger, you know?" He takes a deep breath, hoping they're aligned on this one. She's right. This is a conversation most people have while dating, but they haven't exactly dated. At all.

She'd been a little tense, and he feels her relax against him. "Oh good."

He hugs her tighter to his side. "So, we're in the same place on this?"

"We are." She begins to move her leg up and down against his, making him arch an eyebrow, even though she can't see it in the darkened room. "Can we practice?"

"I'm sorry?" He's puzzled by the question, but it only takes a moment for him to sort it out.

It only takes a moment because instead of explaining, she bumps Bee off the bed, saying, "Bee, pillow." The dog slinks across the room to his dog bed under the window, huffing. Then, before he can ask her what she's doing, she moves quickly, positioning herself on top of him. Her knees are on either side of his hips, and she leans down, pressing a kiss to his neck.

His hands go to her hips, and he lets out a laugh. It's cut off when she grinds her hips into his, and he moves one hand up to the back of her head, guiding her up so he can capture her lips in a searing kiss. When they part, she again moves to his neck, getting a question out in the midst of mapping the area with her lips, teeth, and tongue. "You up for round two, Flyboy?"

"Well, like I said, I'm not getting any younger. But I'm willing to try. For the sake of practice and all that." He groans a little when she cants her hips into his again.

"So noble." She mumbles. "And I just remembered that I still owe you one."

"One what?" He moves his hands down to her backside, gripping gently, pressing his hips up into hers.

She gasps and then breathes out, "A hickey."

He freezes for a moment, noting that she succeeded, with two words, in helping him get ready to do this again. "Holy shit, are you trying to kill me, Sunshine?"

"Maybe a little, Flyboy." She goes back to his neck, and she grinds down again. "Now where do you want it?"

"Wherever you want to put it, Sunshine." His last coherent thought for a while is wondering how such an innocuous exchange can suddenly turn into the filthiest sounding conversation he's ever heard.

Sitting at his desk on campus the next morning, he is more tired than he has been in a long time. Apparently, both of them had been without a partner for a while, and they did their best to make up for that in one night. Well, one night and a morning. After round two, they'd fallen asleep. A nightmare woke her up a few hours later, and round three, the gentlest and slowest of all of the rounds, had ensued.

When they'd woken up at about seven this morning, an hour-and-a-half later than he usually wakes up, she'd crowed that she'd figured out how to get him to sleep to a more acceptable hour. Round four had taken place shortly thereafter, fast and enthusiastic, against the wall of his shower.

It was amazing, but he also mentally notes that they really need to only have nights like that on the weekend. If they don't, he'll be non-functional way too fast, and he has to be energetic enough to teach starting next week.

That aside, he's honestly impressed that he managed four times in a twelve-hour span. He's surprised that he still has that in him. He's also vaguely worried that he set a bit of an unrealistic precedent for himself. He shifts a little, rubbing at a spot low on the front of his left hip, grateful that the place where she gave him his hickey is far easier to hide with clothes, if also far more pornographic.

He's also grateful that she has an IUD and that they're both clean, because he didn't have condoms at his house (hazard of self-imposed celibacy), and he hadn't wanted to be so presumptuous as to buy them so soon after they started to spend time together. He grins then, thinking about their brief conversation about kids.

His dad had lamented last weekend that he was never going to get to be a grandfather. Even though he knows it's still far off, Poe wonders if a mini-combination of himself and Rey might be the thing that finally gets him to come back to Connecticut. Poe has space on his lot, and he'd build his dad a little house in a heartbeat if it meant he'd come spend time up here – he hasn't been here since Poe's mother died. Poe always goes to him, or they meet somewhere, but Kes won't come here. He hopes that will change with grandkids. He misses his dad a lot, and he just can't get down to see him very often.

He's glad of one thing – Han and Leia called this morning, asking to come over for dinner tomorrow night, Friday, instead of tonight. He's happy because he's tired, but also because he wants to warn Rey about something. She doesn't know that he woke up before she did in the middle of the night last night, to a nightmare of his own. His can be fierce, always of the same thing. He wants to make her aware in case he has a bad one, though those are few and far between these days.

His phone pings a text message alert, and it's Rey wanting to know if he's ready to head out. They're meeting Dr. A at the airfield for Poe to talk to them about some of the concerns with the plane he'd tested out for Dr. A last week. Rey is coming at Dr. A's agreement – she'd been dying to join them, but she's also trying to be respectful of the work between Poe and her boss. He appreciates that, but to him, it's unnecessary. He'd been the one to call Dr. A and say they should include Rey.

He responds back to meet him in the parking lot, and she sends back a thumbs-up emoji as well as multiple hearts and smiles. He rolls his eyes and grabs his bag. He's amused by the texts he gets from her, especially after he'd teased her about her emoji-usage. He's gotten three this morning, each more emoji-ridden than the one prior. She's just messing with him now, and he loves it.

When he gets to his car, she's leaning against the passenger side waiting for him, and she gives him a small wave. He decides to surprise her a little, so he comes up to her side instead of going to the driver's side. "Hey, Sunshine." He leans down to her and kisses her thoroughly, and then he steps back and hands her the keys.

She stands up straight, her grin so wide that it's nearly blinding. "Really?"

"Take them before I change my mind. You grind the gears even once, and we're pulling over." He gives her a stern look.

She kisses him again and then gives him a mock salute. "Yes, sir!" Then she runs to the driver's side. He slides into the passenger seat – he's literally never ridden in it in this car – and holds his breath that he isn't completely insane.

X

Once they're out of the parking lot and flying down the road that leads to the airfield, she chances a look over at Poe. He is far more relaxed than she expected him to be, though if she'd glanced at him when she first started driving, she guesses she'd have seen him a little tense, at least until he was sure that she really could handle the manual transmission.

She definitely can. She can also honestly say that this is the most fun she's ever had while driving a car. But more than anything, the trust he showed her by handing her the keys warmed her more than almost anything that happened the night before. Almost anything – their third round, after her nightmare, was different than the other four, and it gets the top spot.

He'd been so gentle with her, trying to settle her down as he'd told her he had the night before. She's the one who'd initiated more, and he'd even told her he was fine with just holding her. She'd asked him to please take it further, and he had, but with more care and compassion (as well as passion) than she's ever experienced. He'd fallen back to sleep before her, and she'd curled up on him, her face tilted up to watch him sleep, wondering if this is just the universe's way of making up for all the shit they've gone through to get here.

She smirks briefly. Rounds one, two, and four had been pretty great, too. Rounds two and four in particular had been pretty damned rewarding for her, though if she wants to be able to walk, they'll need to ease up a bit. At that thought, she smirks again.

She takes the last corner before the airfield very fast and tight, and she can almost see him grinning. She's glad; that reaction could have gone either way. After she pulls into the parking lot of the airfield and parks the car, she looks over at him. "This is seriously the best car I have ever driven."

He grins. "Right? People really need to stop giving me a hard time about how much I love it."

"I've got your back on that from now on. I admit, despite thinking it was gorgeous and swoon-worthy, I thought your attachment to it was a tiny bit odd. Not anymore, though." She runs her hands over the wheel and then the dash. "Thank you, Poe."

He looks at her a little funny. "For what?"

She shrugs. "For trusting me."

His face softens, and he leans over and kisses her. Their noses bump, her sunglasses banging into his, and they both pull back, laughing and removing their offending eyewear. He shakes his head. "You're welcome, Sunshine."

Finn comes out of the office, and his jaw drops. Rey and Poe both look Finn's way in alarm when he yells, "Holy crap, Rosie! Get out here!"

Rose bolts outside a moment later, and Poe and Rey exchange a look. She shrugs as he says, "What the hell?"

Finn points at the car, and Rose looks at it for a moment, and then her eyes widen. Rey and Poe both rise from the car, closing the doors and peering at it to try to figure out what Finn and Rose are on about. Rey mumbles, "OK, what am I missing?" He shrugs this time.

Coming over, with Rose right behind him, Finn throws his hands up in the air, gesturing at Poe. "You let her drive your car?"

Poe blinks, and he looks at Rey in confusion. She shrugs again. "Think that one was directed at you, Flyboy."

Rose jumps in, looking at Rey. "No, really! He let you drive his car?"

Rey rolls her eyes as Poe huffs out a laugh. "Yes! Why is that such a shock?"

Rose answers for herself and Finn. "He doesn't let anyone drive it! Not anyone! Not even Finn when Finn helps him work on it. I'm pretty sure that was his first time ever in the passenger seat of that car."

Rey looks at Poe in surprise. He grins. "She's right. It was."

"Seriously?" She returns the grin. At his nod, she basically throws herself at him, kissing him soundly and nearly knocking him off balance, at least judging from how he sways briefly. He gets with the program a moment later, and her hands dive into his hair.

After a moment, Rey hears Rose cackle as Finn yells, "God, stop it! We knew that you two were doing that, but we don't want to see it!"

Rey stops kissing Poe long enough to yell, "Shut up, Stormy," before going back to kissing him, his hands roaming as hers stay in his hair.

She doesn't stop until she hears Rose say, "Dude. You guys. Dr. A is turning onto the driveway. Get your tongue out of his mouth, Rey, and Poe, get your hands off of her ass."

Pulling apart quickly, Poe jumps back as if burned, and Rey looks up the driveway, which is empty. Rey turns and glares at Rose, but Finn laughs. Poe laughs too, but he also does his embarrassed move, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck with a sheepish expression on his face. It's so cute that she leaves off glaring at Rose to kiss his cheek. She mumbles, "God, it's so adorable when you do that," against his skin.

He laughs fully then, gently turning her and pulling her close, her back to his front. He perches his chin on her shoulder. Rey nestles back against him, and he says, "Not nice, Rosie. Well played, but not nice."

Rey chuckles. "Yeah, it really was well played."

Rose appears to be fully past her surprise, but Finn is still standing there looking outraged, Rey assumes about the car. Rey shoots him a look. "Let it go, Stormy."

"Listen to her, Finn," Poe adds, "I've seen you drive. You are never driving my car. Never."

Finn starts to protest, but Rose just pats him on the arm. "Honey, Poe's right. You're a shitty driver."

Rey pipes up, "You are, Stormy. Remember who helped you build your shitbox in high school – I only rode with you in it one time. Ask yourself why that is."

Finn feigns injury. "Et tu, Scavenger?" He clutches his heart theatrically, but he also finally laughs.

Dr. A actually does drive up then, so Poe and Rey separate, but not before Poe catches a knowing look from the wizened old professor. Poe has to force himself to not rub the back of his neck then, instead leading Rey and Dr. A into the hangar along with Finn to go over Poe's report and for Finn to show Dr. A the issue with the grinding flaps.

At one point, Poe leaves her alone with Dr. A and Finn, going into the office. He comes back out twenty minutes later in a flight suit instead of his work clothes, helmet in hand. Rey knows that her eyes widen, and she realizes that she has a new winner in the "What Does Poe Dameron Look the Hottest In" sweepstakes.

He grins at her, winking as he nods to Finn to open the hangar doors. She walks over to him. "You're taking it up?"

"Her. I'm taking her up. And yes. Dr. A wants to see what's happening at high speeds and what's happening with the flaps." His grin doesn't waver, and she can see that he's in his element.

"You can get her going that fast here?" She arches an eyebrow, something he does at her all the time.

"Watch and see, Sunshine." He winks again, and she is ridiculously charmed by the cockiness. Once the hangar doors are open and the jet moved outside, his demeanor changes, turning more serious. He hands her a headset, and he hands additional ones to Finn and Dr. A. "Listen in, Rey. I'll talk you and Dr. A both through how she's responding." He leans forward, pressing a quick peck to her cheek before heading over to the jet.

She watches, admiring him in this situation. It dawns on her that, cocky or not, he is also almost outrageously competent. He circles the plane, checking different parts of it, and Finn, standing next to her, says, "Pre-flight check."

She nods. "I know, Stormy."

He smiles, unruffled. "Just making sure, Scavenger. He's good. You're going to enjoy this. Rose got the flight path to the airport cleared and the space around it up to ten thousand feet opened up too – this is known as a test-field now. He's got room to speed her up and show you and Dr. A what's happening with the handling. Last time he tested her out over the Sound and into the open ocean a bit."

Rey nods again, her eyes staying on Poe. A moment later, he gives Finn a thumbs up, and he climbs the ladder into the cockpit. As he settles in and closes the canopy, his attention is entirely on the task at hand, and she listens as he goes back and forth with Rose. Finn takes Rey's arm, and they and Dr. A all move back away from the jet. A moment later, Poe fires up the engine. Rey gasps as it roars to life.

Poe's voice comes over the headset. "Tico Tower, this is Black Rebel One. Am I clear?"

After a moment, Rose's voice responds. "You're clear, Black Rebel One. Flight plan as established, open skies for the next half hour, keep it under the ceiling established."

"Copy that, Tico Tower."

"Enjoy the clear skies, Black Rebel One. See you soon."

"Thanks Tico Tower. See everyone in a minute. Black Rebel One out."

Rey watches, mesmerized, as the plane taxis into position, and seconds later, it damn near rockets down the runway. It's in the sky and climbing in seconds, and he cuts a sharp turn and buzzes the tower. Over the headsets, Rose yells, "Only one time, Rebel."

Rey hears Poe chuckle over her headset as he zips up and out, and she smirks. "Behave, Flyboy."

She hears a snort, and he replies, "No promises, Sunshine."

Rey glances over at Dr. A. He is studying his notes and Poe's report, but she can see a small smile ghosting on his face. Finn just grouses, "OK, no more flirting."

"Copy that," Poe replies, "Sunshine, Dr. A, I'm about to make some turns over the field. Do you have eyes on me?"

When they both confirm, he gets down to business. He executes a few perfect turns, but when he rockets in faster, the same turns are clearly not as clean. A few minutes later, he calls Rose again. "Tico Tower, this is Black Rebel One. Am I clear to land?"

"You're clear, Black Rebel One, bring her in."

Rey watches in awe as he flawlessly lands the small jet. He takes her breath away. His voice comes over the headset, "Tico Tower, coming in clean, will park her outside."

An hour later, they wrap up with Dr. A, who leaves with Finn, Rey, and Poe staying behind in the hangar. Poe leads her over to his mom's plane, and he shows her the cockpit in more detail than he did before, going over all of the controls and what each switch and lever does. Rey is again warmed by the idea that he's willing to teach her to fly on his mom's plane. She knows it's special to him, even more so than the car, which isn't sentimental.

They're both done for the day on at the school, so they're just going to go home. When they leave, Poe stops by the office to talk to Finn about something. She wants to ask him to let her drive again, but she also wants to be respectful. She knows he'll let her drive it again soon – she can tell that he didn't mind having her behind the wheel. But she pretty much also knows that it won't be today. If nothing else, he's used to driving. He has also been kind of vibrating with a kind of nervous energy she can almost see since he took the jet up – she guesses that he needs to do something to run it out a little.

Once they're back to the house and they've let Bee out and back in again, he proves that thought to be correct, though she'd just been thinking that he needed to drive. They're barely into the house before he shows her an even more fun way to burn away the excess energy.

X

They're sprawled on his couch, both naked under a blanket he had on the back of it. She's draped over him, and he's playing with her hair. It occurs to him that he hasn't done that – post-flight sex – since Jess. He won't say that out loud, of course, but it's interesting to him that even though he's been doing test flights for Dr. A for a while now, this was the first time he was so keyed up afterwards. He can't help but wonder if his body just knows he suddenly has a partner available again.

His head turns to what he was thinking about earlier, back at his office, and he swallows hard before saying, "Not to interrupt the afterglow or anything, Sunshine, but I have something I want to talk to you about."

She perches her chin on his chest, looking up at him with a little bit of worry in her eyes. "Is something wrong?"

He's quick to reassure her. "No! Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to give you a heads up about something." He sits up, and she adjusts her position. Eventually, he's upright on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, and she is sitting next to him with her legs over his lap. He covers them both back up with the blanket, and he goes on, "I have nightmares, too, Rey."

"OK," she cocks her head at him. "That's not too surprising, Poe, with what happened to you."

His voice is soft when he replies. "They aren't about my knee, Sunshine."

"Oh," Rey looks puzzled. "What are they about?"

"It varies, but the theme is common. I fail at saving people." He blinks, and she takes his hand.

"I don't understand. Can you say more, Flyboy?"

He sighs. "I spent a lot of time in counseling, you know? But I still blame myself for Jess. I was there when she died. Maybe if I'd been faster or called for more support sooner." His voice trails off. "So, sometimes I just relive that fight, that ambush, over and over again."

He falls silent briefly, and he's grateful that she doesn't push to fill the silence. After a while, he continues. "Sometimes it's Mom, but she dies in her plane instead of her bed. I try to help her land it, but I can't. Other times, it's Leia. It's the plane I was covering when I got shot, but in my nightmares it goes down, and Leia is dead. Last night –"

She gasps a little. "Last night? You had one last night?"

He nods. "Right before yours woke you up. I don't know what that asshole who hurt you looks like, so he's a sort of shadowy specter in my head, you know? But he was hitting you, and I couldn't get to you. I woke up as you started thrashing from your own nightmare. I'm telling you because I don't always wake up," he pauses, searching for the word he wants, "I don't always wake up calm. Sometimes I'm yelling, sometimes I'm thrashing around. I just don't want to hurt you or scare you."

He's staring at their joined hands on top of the blanket, and she says, "Poe, look at me." When he doesn't, she reiterates, "Poe, I want you to look at me." He finally moves his eyes to hers, and he would swear that he actually sees love burning there. "Thank you for telling me. But you don't scare me. Even if you're yelling and thrashing, you won't scare me. Startle? Maybe. Surprise? Probably. But not fear."

He doesn't talk about it much, but he had to back in counseling. "For a long time after Jess, I felt like was a pure failure. I went through the motions. I'm good at it – flying that is. And I was able to continue executing well even though I was in an emotional spiral. Hell, even figuring out that Jess and I would never have been more than friends actually made her death somehow worse to me."

She reaches up with her free hand and runs it through his hair. "What can I do?"

"Listen to me. That's all I need sometimes." He looks at her again. "I've been afraid of people, of letting them in, for a while. I also didn't fly for the full year that I was rehabbing my knee. But then I started working on Mom's plane. Leia and Han did all they could to support me, but the one who saw it was your Uncle Luke. He was the one who pushed me back into a cockpit."

"Luke?" she blinks in surprise.

"Rey, PTSD knows what PTSD looks like. Mine is a lot quieter than most, and I have it largely under control, but yeah – it's there. I think it's why I get so much rage over that piece of shit who hurt you, why I was so bothered by Finn thinking I took advantage of you. All I want to do is protect people. All the time. It's who I am. Because I failed at that with Jess," Rey starts to protest, and he amends, "In my head. I failed at it in my head. Because of that, I go out of my way to protect everyone else."

Rey tenses a little and says quietly, "Please tell me that's not what this is, what we are, Poe."

He blinks down at her. "Rey, no. God, no, it's not. My instinct is to push people away. Letting you in the way I have is literally the exact opposite of my pattern. Nothing about this is normal for me. I swear. In the back of my head, if I wanted you to be safe, I'd never have let you move in. The hardest part for me with this, and the reason I think I may have some nightmares, is that I'm fighting my need to protect you by getting you away from me."

"Oh, Flyboy." She presses a kiss to his cheek. "Do you understand that I've never felt safer in my life? Not just in the last two years, but in my life. You've even already saved me once. Poe, I trust you, and I am," he watches her swallow hard, "I'm falling in love with you faster than I've ever fallen in love before. That should scare the living shit out of me. It doesn't."

He leans in, pressing his forehead to hers, his stomach flipping over. "I'm falling in love with you, too, Sunshine, and I am absolutely terrified. I am more afraid of this than I can remember ever being afraid of anything."

"But you even let me drive your car, Poe. That took serious trust." She's trying to reassure him, and he appreciates it more than he can say.

"It did, and I do trust you, Sunshine. The person I don't trust here is me." He sighs. He can't believe he told her all of this, admitted it all. The only one who has heard even fifty percent of this is Luke.

She grips his hand even tighter. "Well, then I just have to trust you enough for both of us for now."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: This chapter got a LOT longer than I thought it would.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Rey sits on the deck of Poe's (their?) house, waiting for him to come back from his run, which he'd warned her might be a long one, something he often does on Sunday mornings. She'd done half an hour on the bike in the basement when he rolled out of bed at six thirty – not as good as seven the other day, but she'll take it – and knowing that she wouldn't go back to sleep, she decided to actually try to get back into a workout routine.

She's going over her notes for her first class, a 9:00 am tomorrow, a steaming cup of coffee on the table next to her. Bee went with Poe, and Rey is curious how tired the dog will be when Poe gets back. She grins. The bouncy retriever will likely be just fine.

Rey sets her notes aside, picking up her coffee cup and gazing out at the river. It's insane how much she loves everything about this place Poe found for himself. It's almost unbelievably quiet, but at the same time, between the trees and the birds and the movement of the river, it's also wonderfully alive. It's peaceful in a way that surprises her with how much she likes it. She thought she'd miss LA, but the truth is while she knows she'll want to go back and visit now and then, this is home.

Even though it's still August, they just had their first minor cool front. There's a slight chill in the air, and she snuggles into the Adirondack chair she sits in, his hoodie – the same one he gave her the day they met, which he demanded that she let him wash yesterday – wrapped around her. It doesn't smell so much like him now, making her frown. She'll have to make him wear it for a few hours this afternoon and then steal it back and hide it so he doesn't wash it again any time soon.

Her hair is braided back, and she's wearing the hoodie with a tank, yoga pants, and a pair of thick socks, the latter something she found in his drawer. They're too big for her, but they're really warm and soft, too. She feels the sun on her face and tilts her head back, thinking about the last few days. After what he shared with her Thursday afternoon, she has given a lot of thought to how they can tackle this if it becomes a problem between them.

She wants to talk to Uncle Luke about it, but she decides that she can't do that without Poe there, too – it would feel too much like a violation of trust. She hopes Poe will be willing – he did, as predicted, have a nightmare Thursday night. It was bad, and he'd woken up completely freaked out. His yelling – her name, which broke her heart a little – had jolted her awake, but once she'd assured him that she was there and she was fine, he'd settled back down.

She shakes her head, refocusing on her notes for class. She's more than a little nervous about tomorrow; she knows her material backwards and forwards, but she also knows she might have some difficulty with people making assumptions about her not knowing what she's talking about, given her age and gender. Potentially, she also knows she may end up with unwanted advances. It's oddly reassuring to know that Poe understands that entirely. He told her yesterday that if she wants to come to his class tomorrow afternoon, she can. It's a 3:15, his only Freshman-level class this semester, and she's done on Mondays, class-wise, at 2:30. She thinks she will, maybe just going and slipping in the back so she can watch him.

The thought of yesterday makes her smile broadly. He'd surprised her by taking her up in his mom's plane, and he'd even let her take the controls for a little while. He'd set it up with Finn and Rose before they'd left the airfield on Thursday. Schedules and weather permitting, he'd told her they can go up every Saturday if she wants to and that he'll take her out there on Wednesdays after school to just sit in the plane and really get comfortable with all of the controls and what they do.

She's not used to being with a man who follows through on the things he said, but he also set up time a week from today to hit the test track over in western Connecticut, so she can open up his Porsche on it. They're leaving Bee with Leia and Han and making a quick weekend of it, after they go flying in the morning, of course.

It boggles her mind. She's never had a boyfriend who did anything like these things for her. She said as much to him, and he looked at her like she was crazy, noting that she deserves a lot better than she's gotten in the past. She'd acknowledged then that until now, her taste in men has really, really sucked. He'd just given her a sad smile and kissed the top of her head at that.

A bark makes her turn her head towards the end of the driveway, and she smiles at the sight of him and Bee heading this way. Bee spots her sitting outside, and he's bounding towards her quickly, easily outpacing Poe, who just laughs. Rey stretches her legs out on her chair's matching ottoman, bracing herself. Bee launches himself at her from the top step, landing on her and sending the chair sliding slightly back. "Oof. Nice to see you too, Bee."

The dog sprawls on her, squirming up to lick her face. She giggles and hugs the beast to her. After taking a couple of minutes to stretch a little and cool down, Poe jogs up to the deck, one eyebrow lifted at them. Rey grabs a towel from the back of her chair and tosses it to him, and he catches it easily. She learned quickly that Sweaty Poe looks sexy, but she found out the hard way that she really doesn't want him to hug her without drying off a bit.

He dries his face, rubs the towel on his hair, and then he flips the towel over his shoulder. "Thanks, Sunshine." He then turns one of the chairs from the table around, straddles it, and sits down, leaning his arms on the back of it to look at her. She passes him a bottle of water, and he nods his thanks again as he takes a drink from it.

She waits for him to swallow before saying, "Mum called. We're invited to lunch."

"What did you say?" He reaches out and scratches Bee's side. The dog is literally draped over Rey like an orange and white blanket.

"I told her I needed to check with you. She snorted and said she'd see us at one." Rey rolls her eyes.

"Bossy," he grouses, but he's smiling when he does. He looks down at his sports watch. "So, we have hours. I'm starving now."

"That's what happens when you run a 10K before breakfast." She teases him.

"Hey, I ate a power bar! Nice socks, by the way." He pokes Bee, who shifts, making Rey grunt. She sticks her tongue out at him, and he returns the gesture, laughing. "Very mature, Dr. Kenobi."

"Says the man who did it back and who nudged the dog just to mess with me." She sticks her tongue out again. "And sorry I stole the socks, but my feet were cold and they looked so damned cozy."

His affectionate look tells her he doesn't care. "Seriously, let me get dressed, and I'll introduce you to a place here with excellent pancakes." He stands. "Deal?"

"Pancakes?" She perks up.

Poe crosses his arms over his chest. "So, now I have your attention."

She shoos Bee off of her lap and stands, mirroring his position. "I really like pancakes."

"More or less than tacos?" He smirks.

She blinks. "I'm not Solomon. You cannot make me choose." Her face is serious. She's not kidding. No way is she going to rank tacos versus pancakes. She's not made of stone, damn it.

He can't hold back his laugh at that, and he leans in and kisses her. "Your outrage there was priceless, Sunshine."

She grabs his arms before he can move away, pressing her body to his as she kisses him in return. It quickly turns from playful to heated, but she's hungry, too. After a moment, she pulls back, sucking on his lower lip as she does. "Go get cleaned up. You're a little stinky, and I was promised pancakes."

He laughs again, shaking his head. "You do know that you effectively just ranked me below tacos and pancakes, right?"

She chews her bottom lip. After a moment, she grins and concedes, "Only when I'm hungry."

He chuckles and cups her cheek with his palm, the expression in his eyes exceptionally fond. She can tell he's about to say something, but he stops himself. "I'll be out in a minute."

She nods. "Can I go dressed like this?"

"Yep. Not a fancy place, Sunshine." He heads into the house, and she follows with her coffee cup, Bee at her heels. After dropping the cup in the sink, she goes into the bedroom. Regardless of his response a moment ago, she wants to throw a fitted long-sleeved t-shirt over her tank and to pull on some hiking boots over his cozy socks. She listens the shower running, and she thinks about a moment ago. She's fairly sure he was going to say, "I love you," but that he stopped himself.

She frowns a little. Thursday night, they both admitted that they were falling in love with each other, but she thinks they both are letting something hold them back with regard to actually declaring that they love each other. She doesn't know if it's time, or specifically, how little time they've been a couple, or if it's something else entirely. She's fairly certain she does know, though, how he feels. At least when it comes to her interactions with him, he has basically no poker face whatsoever.

The look in his eyes just minutes ago told her exactly how he feels, and she feels the same way about him. She really wants him to say it, though. She hugs her arms around herself. She can honestly say she's never felt like this before. It amazes her now to think that she thought she cared about her exes.

She had no idea what it meant back then to be in a real relationship. This one is barely a week old, and it's deeper than anything she's ever shared with anyone. She hears the shower turn off, so she calls, "I'll be out on the deck, Flyboy." He calls back that he'll be ready in ten or fifteen minutes, so she returns to going over her notes, settling back into the chair outside with Bee at her feet.

X

Poe examines himself in the mirror; he's clean-shaven again, something he'd warned Rey was coming today. He doesn't love having the scruff, mainly because he's just used to shaving every day. It wasn't really an option at the Academy or when he was Active Duty, so basically his entire adult life until four years ago. Since, he's only let his hair get longer, but almost always shaved, especially on work days.

She'd negotiated with him on it – she likes the scruff – which had amused him to no end. They landed on him not shaving on Saturdays and Sundays or on holidays. He rolls his eyes a little, mostly at himself for caving almost immediately. He did go ahead and shave today, because it's been a week, and it's thick. He didn't want to have to fight his way through it tomorrow morning. Nodding that it looks OK, he cursorily dries his hair with the towel around his neck.

As he does, he thinks about earlier. He'd wanted to say "I love you" to Rey, but he'd stopped himself. He doesn't want her to panic, regardless of what they'd said to each other. To him, there's a difference between saying "I'm falling in love with you" and "I love you." But he does love her. He knows that. He has no doubt at all that he loves her, and different than anything he's really felt before, he has no doubt that he's in love with her. The in love part is what he hadn't felt with Jess. But nuance notwithstanding, he wants to say the words to Rey.

His hand goes to his mom's ring. He still can't believe he admitted to her that he's imagined her wearing it. The whole conversation on Thursday was a surprise. He'd only intended to warn her about his nightmares. At first, he'd been a little upset with himself for spilling all of it to her – but after a while, it occurred to him that if he really wants to have a long-term relationship with Rey, it's only fair, given that he knows most of her shit, that she have a window into his.

Shaking his head as if to clear it, he pulls on some jeans, hiking boots, and another one of his old USAF t-shirts. He grabs a worn, soft flannel shirt, pulling it on and rolling up the sleeves on his way out to the deck. He finds Rey and Bee there, back on the same chair as before. He pauses for a moment, watching her flip through a notebook, his dog asleep on her feet. She's beautiful all the time, but she's just adorable right now – her brow is furrowed, a little crease appearing between her eyes, telling him that she's thinking about something.

His backwards chair is still there, so he heads to it, making sure that he's not moving so quietly that he scares her. She looks up and smiles as he comes over, her eyes widening a little. Once he sits, she reaches out and gently runs her hand over his now-smooth face. A funny look crosses her face, and he arches an eyebrow. "What?"

She blushes lightly, cupping his cheek with her palm and brushing her thumb over his cheekbone. She shrugs. "I forgot, well, how damned pretty you are."

He laughs and shakes his head. "Thanks. I think."

"It was definitely a compliment, Flyboy." She smiles again. "Part of why I was so snarky and flustered in Dr. A's office last Monday is because you looked almost annoyingly good."

"OK. Just so you know, you're damned pretty, too." He turns his head and presses a kiss to her palm.

She scoffs and starts to stand, turning towards him and putting her feet on the ground. He doesn't let her go far, taking her hand and holding it hand tight. "Hey. I wasn't just saying that, Sunshine. Do you not know that you're stunning?"

She blushes again. "Poe, I know I'm not conventionally pretty. That's OK."

"What the hell do you mean? Rey, I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I'm sorry if I haven't been clear on that point." He cocks his head. "And now, does that mean I'm just 'conventionally pretty?' So, I rate below tacos and pancakes, and I'm conventionally pretty?"

He says it with an entertained smile, and she clearly tries and fails to look irked with him as she pulls her hand away. "That's not what I said. Well, not the part about being conventionally pretty. Still true about tacos and pancakes. More so by the moment."

He huffs out a laugh, and he stands. He reaches out and takes both of her hands, pulling her to her feet. He then moves into her space, leaning in and kissing her rather thoroughly. When he steps back half a step, he reaches up and brushes some loose hair back. "I don't know why you don't think you're pretty, Rey, but you're wrong. You're beautiful."

She looks down, her expression looking like a mix of sad and embarrassed, and something falls into place for him. "Please tell me that piece of shit isn't the one who convinced you of that."

She sniffles a little. "Part of how they wear you down is by destroying your self-esteem. He started with subtle jabs of how I could look better. Then it was asides about how bony I was and how I needed to gain weight in order to fill out and be prettier. Then it was just that I was ugly and why would anyone want me. That's just what they do, Poe. They convince you that you're worthless, then they exploit their advantage. I was upset about my prior ex cheating on me, I felt pretty low, and Armitage saw it. He poked at all my weak spots from day one."

He envelopes her in his arms, aghast. "Sunshine, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag this up."

She sniffles again, and tears threaten at her eyes. "I know you didn't. It's OK. Can I have a second, though? Maybe go get Bee squared away?"

He can tell that she needs to compose herself. He presses a kiss to her forehead. "All right, Sunshine. I'll be right back. I'll take your notes inside too." He calls Bee, who whines softly, bumping Rey's legs.

She sighs and rubs the dog's head. "It's OK, buddy. Go with Daddy."

His heart flips over at the word "daddy," but Poe just softly calls Bee again. With one more mournful sound, the dog goes with Poe. He puts Rey's notes on the kitchen counter, gets Bee locked up, and he sets the alarm before going back outside. Rey is gone from the deck when he comes out and turns from closing the door, and Poe looks around in mild alarm. Then he spots her on the short path from the deck to the garage. He follows her, keys in hand. "Sunshine?" She nods, so he comes up behind her, putting his keys in his pocket. "Behind you," he says, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Talk to me, Rey."

"You really think I'm beautiful?" The words are soft and unsure, but she sounds less distraught.

"I do, Sunshine. You have my word." He nuzzles her neck.

She turns in his arms. Her eyes are a little red, but she smiles at him – it's a tiny smile, a little weak, but it's enough for him. He hugs her close. After a moment, she nods against his shoulder. "OK." She takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

He pulls back slightly. "Why would you be sorry, Rey?"

"Poe, I went from admiring you and maybe teasing you a tiny bit for being pretty to another damned mini-breakdown." She steps back from him, her face darkening with anger, both hands tightening into fists. "He has ruined almost everything for two years."

"Sunshine?" He sees the change in her mood, but he's unsure of what's going on.

She literally stomps one foot. It would be endearing if the moment before hadn't been so serious. "Fuck him. Fuck him and fuck that. It stops now. I will not allow that piece of shit, as you like to so aptly refer to him, to ruin anything else. He would absolutely fucking love that he can still make me feel awful – and I refuse to keep letting him. Fuck that."

Before he can reply, she walks straight up to him. "I love you."

"What?" He blinks a few times.

"I love you, Poe Dameron. I've been to hell and back, you have too. I've got nothing to fear and nothing to lose, and I love you." She stomps her foot again.

He can't help the grin that comes to his face. "Do you?"

"I do." This time her smile is full and real.

"Good. Because I love you, too." His response makes her launch herself at him. He catches her, bracing himself mostly on his good leg.

She wraps her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "I promise I'm about done with my breakdown moments, Flyboy."

"You know it's OK if you're not, right? It's not like you're the only one with shit, remember?" He gently squeezes her. "Now, pancakes. Those help everything."

She laughs, and steps back. "Only when piled high with strawberries. Or bananas. Or maybe chocolate chips. Oh, and I need bacon. Bacon makes everything better."

Laughing too, he wraps an arm around her, walking her towards the garage. "Can't argue with that."

X

In the car on the way to breakfast, she watches him instead of the road. She's wearing her sunglasses, curled up facing towards him in the Porsche. She can tell that he feels her eyes on him, because when he isn't using the gearshift, his right hand will reach over and brush up and down her arm, occasionally squeezing her hand.

She's oddly proud of them. Considering that they're both fairly messed up, they seem to be finding ways to match up their jagged edges into something less sharp, less cutting. It's not perfect – nothing is. But it fits in a way she never thought she'd manage after Armitage. She guesses that he might feel the same – that he'd never manage something like this after losing both Jess and his career.

It's a short drive into the small town where his house is, and she sees a little diner in front of them. It's relatively early for the Sunday post-church crowd – neither of them is a churchgoer, a conversation they had yesterday – so they are able to get seated in a cozy little booth quickly. It's a small corner one, and she likes that it means she can scoot close to him on the seat.

Rey is about to say something to him about how adorable the place is when a coffee pot is set on the table in front of them. "Pretty Boy, are you cheating on me?" Rey bristles before looking up. Once she does look up, she feels foolish as hell for the bristling. The tiny woman in front of them is easily ten years older than Leia. She's also wearing the thickest glasses Rey has ever seen.

Poe stands and hugs her, and she hugs him back. "Hi, Maz." He slides back into the booth. "Rey Kenobi, this is Maz Kanata, the owner."

The woman puts her hand out, and Rey takes it. "It's wonderful to meet you, Ms. Kanata."

"Oh kiddo, it's Maz." The older woman shakes Rey's hand. "And I'm thrilled to meet you. Pretty Boy here always comes alone, grabs a seat at the counter. He's a peach, this one. He even did a flying demonstration for the Little League team the diner sponsors, and he took any kid that wanted to go up in that plane that was his mom's. Shara would be so damned proud."

Poe defaults into his hand-rubbing-the-back-of-his-neck move, a blush hitting his cheeks. "Enough, Maz." He waves her away, and she goes, cackling.

Before she disappears into the back, Rey laughs out loud when she hears Maz call, "Got Pretty Boy to blush again!" to someone in the back and responding laughter.

After a moment of silence at the table, Rey says teasingly, "See, Maz thinks you're pretty, too."

He just groans and lets his head drop to the table top. Rey laughs as Maz approaches again. "I'm going to like you, kiddo. Not only are you here with this one and getting him smiling like I've never seen before," she waves at Poe, "You also seem good with giving him a hard time. As long as he gives as good as he gets, you two will do well." She picks up the coffee pot and fills Poe's cup. "Coffee, kiddo?"

Rey nods. "Thank you!"

Maz smiles, handing Rey a menu. She looks at Poe. "Usual for you, Pretty Boy?"

He nods. "But double the bacon." He motions his head at Rey, whose eyes are wide as she reads through the list of about thirty kinds of pancakes. She's never seen anything like this.

Rey suddenly says, "Oh my God, Chocolate Chip Banana pancakes?"

Maz grins. "One of the house favorites."

Rey almost bounces in her seat. "Those, please!"

Poe laughs, and Maz asks, "Short stack or regular?"

Looking almost affronted, Rey says, "Regular!"

Maz surveys her for a moment. "I definitely like you, kiddo." Then, under her breath, she says, "Got to get the bets going."

"Bets?" Rey looks at Poe as Maz walks off quickly, talking to the waitresses at the front who quickly fan out to people at a few different tables.

Poe grins again. "She doesn't think you can finish it. I need to find out what odds she's giving. We should get in on the action. The waitresses are taking bets from the other regulars."

Rey claps her hands and bounces some more. "Oh, yeah, pancakes and a pay day!"

Poe calls Maz back over, and he puts twenty dollars on Rey after she tells him the odds are 20-1. Maz looks skeptical. "Really, Pretty Boy? Brave man." At his nod, she shrugs. "All right. Twenty on the kiddo finishing the pancakes and half of the bacon."

Rey can't help but go all warm and soft inside. She loves that Poe brought her here, a place where people know him. It's personal, and it's history, and she thinks Maz may actually be her favorite person she's ever met. She wraps her hand around his. "Thank you."

He looks confused. "For what?"

"For bringing me here." She smiles shyly at him.

He seems to suddenly understand what she's really thanking him for, and he squeezes her hand before pressing a kiss to her temple. "You're welcome, Sunshine."

Rey understands the betting when they put the biggest stack of pancakes she's ever seen down in front of her. Half an hour later, though, most of the diner is staring in disbelief as Maz counts out four hundred twenty dollars to Poe. He was the only one in the place to put money on Rey. Maz is laughing as she does. The house basically won, too, given how many people put money on the pancakes and not the eater after getting a look at Rey. Poe smirks. "Pleasure doing business with you, Maz."

Rey just sits there, her demolished plate in front of her, demurely munching on some of Poe's leftover toast and sipping coffee. Maz peers at her. "Mighty Girl, where do you put it all?"

Rey beams at the nickname. "No idea. I just do." Maz puts her fist out, and Rey bumps it with her own, still beaming.

Maz then turns to Poe, surprising Rey when she speaks what Rey knows is Spanish. She's even more surprised when Poe responds in the same language without even appearing to think about it. The only words Rey picks up from their very fast conversation are the words for father, home, time, and "I don't know."

Rey can tell that Poe looks a little upset by the conversation, his eyes achingly sad. But she can also tell that he's not upset with Maz, who, when they finish, pats Poe's cheek gently and softly says, "Lo siento, mijo."

Maz wishes them both a good day before heading to the front as the morning crowd gets bigger. Rey is looking at Poe in surprise and concern for the change in mood. He keeps blowing her mind. "So, Spanish?"

He shrugs. "Dad is Guatemalan, and Mom was half-Cuban and half-Spanish. Dad's family came here when he was a baby, Mom was born in Miami, first generation. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'd be bi-lingual. I grew up speaking both English and Spanish – none of my grandparents spoke much English, though Dad's parents did OK. But that made it a lot simpler to be fluent in both. At school, I'm the faculty sponsor of a club for recent immigrants at the school. It's a good group of kids."

Something appears to occur to him. "Are you a citizen? I keep forgetting that you're technically British."

She nods. "Dual, Great Britain and the US. I actually just got my US citizenship last year."

They get up to go, waving to Maz as they head towards the door. Maz trots over and hugs Poe and then Rey. To Rey, she mutters, "Don't be a stranger, Mighty Girl. I haven't seen him smile like he does with you since Shara was alive. She would've loved you, by the way. She could seriously put away the pancakes, too."

Rey laughs even as a sheen of tears comes to her eyes. "Thanks, Maz. I'll definitely be back."

X

Poe holds Rey's hand as they leave, incredibly relieved that Maz took a shine to her. Outside of Leia and his dad, Maz is the other person he looks to as a parent, and she's actually even harder to bullshit than Leia is, a very high bar to clear. What's amazing is that while he didn't see her in person from age eight to age thirty-two except when she surprised them all by showing up at his Academy graduation, Maz kept up with him.

It was like she always knew where he was. For all of those years, there wasn't a single birthday that he didn't get a card from her, even when he was in Afghanistan. She was also the first visitor he got once he was settled at Leia's house for his rehab.

"Want to walk down to the beach, Sunshine?" He squeezes her hand. "It's only ten minutes down to Surf Club Park."

"Sure. A walk sounds like a wise idea after that." She smiles, and they head out towards the beach. The morning is still cool, and she pulls his hoodie from where it's tied around her waist and shrugs into it, zipping it up. After a moment, she says, "Why did Maz say she was sorry at the end of your conversation? I don't understand much Spanish, but I do know what lo siento means."

"We were talking about my dad. He hasn't been back here since Mom died. When I see him, I either have to go to him or meet him somewhere. It's hard, because I can't always find time." Poe sighs. "I miss him, but I always loved New England. I want to be close to my memories of Mom. Dad can't bear the memories. It's probably the only thing in the world where we really don't see eye to eye. After Mom died, we moved to a little town north of San Antonio. It was a great place to live, but it wasn't ever home to me."

She tucks herself closer to his side, dropping her head to his shoulder as they walk. "I'm trying to think of a diplomatic way to say that I'm really glad that this is your home, because I might not have met you if it wasn't. I'm even glad Ben was there the other day, because then I went home with you. But I don't want you to think that I'm glad that you're not near your dad, because that's not the case."

He turns his head, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I know that, Rey. I'd never think that you're glad about that."

After a few more minutes, they find a bench that looks out over the Sound, and they settle onto it, her legs across his lap and her head in the crook of his neck. He hasn't had a lot of truly peaceful moments in the last four years – hell, in the last ten – but this is one. After a moment, he tips her face up to his, murmurs, "I love you, Sunshine," and presses a kiss to her lips. She leans into the kiss, her arms going around his neck and his wrapping around her waist. When they pull back a moment later, he says, "You taste like chocolate and bananas."

She smiles. "Is that bad?"

"Nope. Made me four hundred bucks." He bumps her nose with his. "Pays for our track time next weekend."

"Excellent." She leans in to kiss him again. "I love you, too, by the way." Before they can connect, Rey's phone rings.

Poe leans back, rolling his eyes. "Let me guess. Senator Bad Timing?"

Rey laughs as she looks at her phone and then answers it. "Good morning again, Mum."

Poe watches Rey as she talks to Leia, mostly ignoring the conversation. His mind wanders back to his exchange with Maz. He sighs. He wishes his dad would just come up here. It's suddenly very important to him that his dad meet Rey, and he knows they won't have time for a trip down to Texas until Thanksgiving, most likely.

He's so lost in thought that he doesn't notice when Rey hangs up with Leia. "Hey, Earth to Flyboy. Come in, Flyboy?" She gently nudges him in the side.

He blinks, looking at her. "Sorry, Sunshine. Thinking about Dad."

She squeezes him. "It's OK. Mum wanted to know if we can pick a few things up for her on our way over. She also confirmed that she gave my old snow boots and parka to charity – I'd asked her about them this morning when she called. It's not like I needed them in LA."

"Well, we can manage those things, I think." He smiles at her. "There are a couple of big stores over in Milford. We can go on a Saturday in a few weeks. My old boots probably need to be replaced, too. Because of the way I walk, compensating for my knee, my left one gets worn out fast."

She snuggles back into him, her head moving back to his neck. "We have time. Can we just hang out here for a while?"

"Whatever you want, Sunshine." He smiles, and he thinks briefly that Jess would make so much fun of him for how much he'd bend over backwards to make the woman in his arms happy. She deserves it though – Maz had it right with the nickname. Mighty Girl indeed.

That evening, they get home from spending the afternoon at Han and Leia's. They'd stopped to get the food Leia requested, makings of a salad as well as some fresh fruit for dessert and to get Bee to take with them. They'd switched from the Porsche to her Jeep for the drive over, top down, with Bee in his harness in the back for the ride, which made him howl happily in a way that made them both laugh out loud.

The most intriguing part of the day (using the word intriguing very loosely) was when Han asked him to come outside with him to walk the dogs. He'd gotten the "dad" talk then, complete with threats of bodily harm if he hurts Rey in any way. Poe had solemnly promised that he'd deserve to have his ass kicked if he hurt Rey, and Han had clapped him on the shoulder responding, "I know, kid. Just, you know, had to say that. Dad Code and all that shit."

Leia had also told them that she'd gotten a call from Maz. She'd patted Rey on the shoulder, saying, "Well done, sweetheart. You impressed her, and Maz is not at all easy to impress." That had made Rey preen a little, making them all laugh. Leia had given Poe a pointed look when she mentioned Maz, but he'd dismissed it. Reading Leia can be a chore, and he'd been in too good of a mood to engage in it.

Other than those moments, the afternoon had been surprisingly relaxed. Luke had even dropped by for coffee in the afternoon, and Poe took a moment to tell him about all the things he'd told Rey. With a hug, Luke had told him he was proud of him, something that was surprisingly moving for Poe.

Poe puts some things away in the kitchen, watching Rey, who is back out on the deck with her notes. He knows she's nervous about tomorrow, so much so that he had her deliver parts of her lecture to him in the car on the way back and forth from Leia's, just to help her settle down a little.

With his classes starting tomorrow too, he also wants to go review for a bit. He has two classes tomorrow, a two-hour senior capstone seminar in the morning and his afternoon freshman history section. He actually has more work related to prepping for the afternoon section. The morning class is highly discussion-based and project-based, so it's less preparation for him.

He makes her a cup of green tea with honey and grabs some water for himself, also picking up his iPad and the afghan from the sofa on his way out. Bee is already out there, once again curled up on Rey's feet. After putting his water and tablet down on the table, he hands her the tea and covers her legs with the afghan. She smiles her thanks, taking a sip of the tea and making a happy little sound. He then settles into his chair, also propping his feet on her footstool, and they spend the waning hours of the day in companionable silence.

X

The next afternoon, Rey slips into the shadowy back row of a quickly-filling lecture hall. The freshman required classes are often full, at least per the registrar, but Rey had been boggled when Poe had told her that his freshman classes are often closed as full when they hit 150 students. This one allowed a few force-ins, bringing the count to 165. Rey can't imagine it. Her "big" class has sixty, an underclass level Intro to Aerospace class. It's what she had this morning, and she thinks it went well.

She watches the kids filter in as it gets close to the class start time. She's mildly amused to note that the front few rows are heavily populated with girls, most of them checking their hair and makeup. Poe isn't here yet, but he told her he tries to wait until near start time to enter. About two minutes before 3:15, Poe comes in. They'd had lunch together a couple of hours ago, and she'd promised him she was coming this afternoon. He peers up towards the back rows, spotting her quickly. He winks at her, and she smiles, sinking down in her seat.

Like the military guy he is, he starts the class at precisely 3:15. He lays out his expectations to them, telling them that they should have received the syllabus via email but that it's also posted to the History Department page. A few kids trickle in a few minutes late, and he chooses that moment to remind them all that he will always start on time. He also tells them that quizzes and exams will cover a combination of lecture and reading, so that they can't plan to just do one and get by. That draws a groan, and he lifts an eyebrow at them and says, "Welcome to college."

She snorts at that, and she settles in for the class. She's not sure what she was expecting, but she's mesmerized from the moment he moves into the material. Most of the kids are too. He periodically poses questions, and he makes the kids introduce themselves before they respond. She is impressed as hell. He's good at this – really, really good. She scolds herself for feeling a little surprised by that, but she mentally blames her own freshman history profs, who were deadly-dull boring and curmudgeonly to boot.

Poe is neither of those things. He's lively and engaging, and Rey suddenly understands the popularity of his classes. She already understood the young girls' attraction to him, but now she understands that part more, too. He's gorgeous to begin with, but in front of the class, talking about the stuff he loves, he's impossible to ignore.

The hour and change flies by, and she's shocked when he wraps it up for the day. She checks her watch, and she can't believe that the time went so fast. She watches in amusement as the girls from the front rows flock to the table where he's packing up his notes into his backpack. He keeps the table between him and the girls, and she can see him stealing glances up at her.

She gathers her bag, standing up and coming down the steps from the back of the room. One girl has actually approached him and keeps moving closer as Rey descends, and she can see the relief in Poe's eyes when he sees that she's near. He moves quickly away from the young woman who had been closing on him, murmuring an, "Excuse me," as he did. He reaches out a hand to Rey as she comes down the last couple of steps.

The gathered girls, maybe eight or ten of them, look her up and down. She's in new black crop pants, flats, and a modest tank with a tailored overshirt, her messenger bag across her body. Her hair is back in a twist, and she wears slightly more makeup than usual. She smiles at the girls, taking Poe's hand and leaning up to kiss his cheek as she gets to him. "Excellent lecture, Dr. Dameron."

He grins, returning the kiss, his a peck on her lips. "Thank you, Dr. Kenobi."

She can almost see the girls left in the room deflate. Poe turns to them. "See you Wednesday, kids, or at my office hours tomorrow afternoon. I have to run now. Dr. Kenobi and I have to get home."

Rey almost laughs out loud at the very clear message he gives the girls with those words. The girls all filter out, and she mumbles, "Next time, just wear a t-shirt that says, 'Back off, I'm taken.' Much more efficient."

He snorts. "I don't know. This worked for me. Sorry you had to suffer through freshman history, though."

"I didn't suffer at all." He looks at her in surprise. "Poe, you are amazing in front of a room. I didn't look at my watch once. I'm going to come as often as I can."

He grins, leaning down and kissing her soundly. "I love you."

She brushes his hair back. "I know."

He chuckles at that, and they head for the faculty lot. It's closing on five o'clock already, and they want to get home and make dinner. They rode in together, so they both get into the convertible and slip on sunglasses for the ride home. He asks her about her class from after lunch, and she recounts it excitedly. The class had really gone better than she'd expected.

They get home, pulling into the garage and grabbing their bags. She waits outside the garage for him to get the top put up, and she turns to look at the house. She gasps softly, realizing that there's a man on the deck. "Poe!"

The man looks their way, and Rey's eyes widen in surprise when she recognizes the man. "Poe!" She says his name again, louder this time.

He comes out, the garage door closing behind him. "What's wrong?"

She points, and he gasps too, his eyes blinking as if in disbelief. He blindly grabs for her hand and they head to the house at a brisk pace. The man stands up and comes to the steps of the deck. He's a little taller than Poe and of a slighter build. He has Poe's coloring, but his hair is much shorter and straighter, and the black is shot through with a liberal amount of silver.

Poe stops right at the bottom of the steps. "Dad?"

The man rubs one hand on the back of his neck, squinting a little in the late afternoon sun. "Hey, mijo. Surprise."

 **Note: And there you have it. Kes and Maz are in. I love both of them so much, so I had to get them in.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Parental goodness. Fluff with just specks of angst. But there will be more angst and some conflict ahead – it can't all be happiness and roses, you know?**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Poe is stunned to see his dad standing on the deck of his house. Even when his dad speaks, he just stands there, blinking. Rey releases his hand, going up to Kes. "Hi." She holds out her hand. "I'm Rey Kenobi."

Kes takes her hand, shaking it. "Rey. I've heard a lot about you from Leia. It's good to meet you. I'm Kes."

"Kes. It's good to meet you, too." She gives him a tentative smile and a nod. She then turns back to Poe, returning to his side. "I'll go in and take Bee out front, OK, Flyboy?" He must worry her when he doesn't respond, because she leans in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Poe, are you OK?"

He blinks again, focusing on Rey. "Yeah, sorry. Thanks, Sunshine."

She nods and steps back. "I'll be out front with Bee if you need me." She smiles at Kes again. "Kes."

His dad returns the nod, and then Rey goes in. Poe is still stunned and quiet, so after the door closes behind Rey, Kes offers Poe a weak smile. "So, isn't she the one you just told me last weekend was cranky with you, who you didn't understand, and who you thought was a little scared of you?"

Poe swallows hard, starting to regain a little equilibrium. He frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, aren't you the one who, just over a week ago, reiterated that you were never coming to Connecticut again?"

Kes winces. "Touché, kid."

"What are you doing here, Dad? Is something wrong? Did something happen?" Poe isn't sure why, but he finds himself irrationally irritated to have his dad just show up here after all this time.

Kicking at an invisible spot on the ground, Kes sighs. "I felt bad after your visit last week, after you asked me to come here for Christmas or Thanksgiving or even just for a week to see the school and your house. I know I let you down by saying no again. I didn't really appreciate how much until Maz called me yesterday."

That finally is what knocks Poe truly out of the fog. "What the hell? Leia and Maz need to stop intervening in my life. Leia does it to Rey, too." He walks up on the deck, dropping his pack on the table and starts pacing. "Dad, if you're here because Maz Kanata stuck her nose in and made you feel guilty, go home. I want you to be here because you want to be here. Not because an old friend bullied you into it."

"Mijo, stop." Kes holds up his hands. "I was already stewing about it. I'd already bought a ticket for Thanksgiving."

That brings Poe up short. "What?"

"I did it last week, after you left. I can't entirely promise that I would have used it, but it was a step, you know?" Kes kicks at the deck again. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I'm sorry I've been such a chickenshit about this. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you were recovering. I was hurt that you didn't want to come stay with me, and I think, for a while, that I thought you were picking Leia and Han over me."

"Dad, it wasn't like that at all. This is just where I needed to be. It wasn't about you, or Han, or Leia – it was about me. Why didn't you talk to me about how you felt?" Poe throws his hands up.

"Why didn't you tell me how much you wanted me to come – that it hurt you that I wouldn't?" Kes fires back defensively.

"Because I know what it's like to be haunted, Dad!" Poe yells the words, and his dad blanches in surprise. Taking a deep breath and lowering his voice, Poe goes on, "Dad, I know what it's like to feel like you need to hide. I know what it's like to have your world fall apart. Mine has more than once. I respect that feeling. You can't force people out of it, you can't guilt them out of it. All you can do is try to give them what they need and let them know that the door is open."

He walks over to his dad, putting his hands on his upper arms and looking up at him. "Dad, when I'm here, I feel her with me. I get that for you, all you may feel is that she's gone. You think I don't understand that? I'm a grown man who has seen more than my fair share of shit. Trust me when I say that even if I missed you, even if I wished you'd come here, that didn't mean that I faulted you for trying to stay away from the thing that gives you pain."

"She'd kick my ass." Kes shakes his head, speaking quietly. "Shara would kick my ass."

"Maybe." Poe shrugs. "But Dad, I've spent the last four years hiding from people because it's safer for me emotionally. Until a week ago, other than talking to Luke like a makeshift therapist, I'd literally only allowed Leia in, and that was because she's just too damned pushy and disrespectful of boundaries. Even the friends I've made have been kept slightly at the periphery. That way, if things go to shit, maybe they won't get hurt – maybe it won't be my fault."

"What happened a week ago, Mijo?"

Poe huffs out a laugh. "I got the most ridiculously rambling apology I'd ever heard, followed by tacos the next day." His face falls a little. "Me and Rey, Dad, we're both a little broken, but I think we're figuring out that we can help each other with our broken parts. We just," he pauses and brushes a hand through his hair, "Fit. And before you say anything, I know it's fast. But I'm not worried about that."

Kes reaches out and squeezes Poe's shoulder. "I'm not either." At Poe's surprised look, Kes goes on, "Kid, I met your mom and married her in under six months. I knew about ten minutes after meeting her that she was it for me. I'm just very, very lucky that she felt the same way. Trust yourself, trust her. That's all that matters."

Poe sighs. "I do trust her. I'm still working on trusting myself."

"It'll come." Kes draws Poe into a hug. After a second, Poe returns it, hugging his dad back, clinging to him like he hasn't since he was a kid. "I believe in you. Believe in yourself, OK?"

Poe and Kes break apart a moment later when they hear Rey yell, "Bee, get back here," followed a few moments later by paws scrabbling on the deck.

Bee throws himself at Poe's legs, bumping him enthusiastically as he barks at Kes. It's all fluff, though, as his tail wags with abandon. Kes snorts. "Scary watchdog you got there, Mijo."

Poe rolls his eyes. "He's a Toller, not a Rottweiler, Dad. This is Bee." He looks at the dog. "Bee, sit."

The dog complies, his tail thumping against the wood as it continues to wag. Rey gets to the deck, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, Flyboy. He got away from me."

"It's OK, Sunshine." Poe holds a hand out to her, and she comes up the steps and takes his hand, letting him pull her into his side.

"What the hell is a 'Toller?'" Kes looks confused.

Poe grins. "A Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Kind of like a Golden, but smaller and more active. I have to run him nearly every day, or he'll tear the house apart. He was a rescue – a friend of Leia's passed away, and he needed a home."

Kes squats down, a position that makes Poe jealous as hell. "Come here, Bee." Bee stands and trots to Kes, and in seconds, his dad is getting a tongue bath.

Rey wraps her arm around Poe's waist. "You OK?" Her voice is soft when she asks but there's a glint in her eye, and Poe is oddly warmed by the knowledge that she's just as protective of him as he is of her, even from his own father.

He turns his head and presses a kiss to her temple. "Yeah. I'm OK." Poe looks around. "Dad, how did you get here?"

"Flew into Newark, Amtrak to New Haven, Shoreline East from there. Got one of those Uber things here from the station in Madison." He grins. "Yes, your old man can navigate."

"Why didn't you just fly to Hartford or Providence and rent a car, Dad?" Poe returns the grin and shakes his head.

Kes shrugs. "It was the fastest way to get here. Once you really realize how bad you've been messing up, you kind of want to fix it fast. But Jesus, you live in the damned middle of nowhere, kid."

Rey snorts, and Poe just shakes his head. "Come inside, Dad."

Poe picks up his backpack, and his dad goes and grabs a large duffel that Poe hadn't noticed. Once inside, Rey goes to their bedroom to change out of her work clothes while Poe shows his dad to the other side of the house where the other bedrooms are. He opens the door to what is currently the guest room. "Here you go, Dad. Bathroom is across the hall – Rey was using that at first, but I think she has all of her stuff moved to mine now."

"Is she living here, Mijo?" Kes lifts an eyebrow.

Poe bristles momentarily, but he realizes that there was no malice behind the question. "Pretty much. I'd explain, Dad, but it involves telling you a little about her past. I need to be sure she's OK with me doing that first."

Kes's expression darkens. "Did someone hurt that girl, Poe?"

"Yeah, Dad. Someone did, but that's all I'm going to say about it for now except to ask that you try not to startle her – don't touch her before she knows you're there." Kes is a hugger, and Poe really doesn't want him to scare Rey, as it would upset Rey but also Kes, who Poe knows would feel terrible about it.

"I understand, son." Kes nods. "Can I help with dinner?"

Poe relaxes at the change of subject. "I was going to make chicken pepián for her. You're even better at making it than I am – help is welcome."

At the mention of the traditional Guatemalan dish, Kes lights up. "You got peppers?"

Poe lifts an eyebrow, almost offended. "Guajillos and Pablanos, ready to go."

"Hey, I was just asking. I had no idea if you could even get them up here." Kes grins.

Poe rolls his eyes. "Dad, it's Connecticut, not the North Pole. Get changed first – I'll meet you in the kitchen in 5 minutes. The house isn't that big – I'm sure you can find it." Shaking his head but still smiling, Poe heads to his room to change.

X

The sounds of laughter from the kitchen make Rey grin as she comes out of the bedroom after a shower. She'd done half an hour on the bike down in the basement, trying to give Poe some time with his dad. If the sounds coming from the kitchen are any indication, it's going well. The smells are pretty darned good, too.

When Rey gets to the entrance of the kitchen, they don't notice her, so she leans against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest and an amused smile on her face. The two are undeniably father and son – dressed similarly, Poe in his home uniform of an old t-shirt, cut-off sweats, and bare feet; Kes also in sweats (not cut-off), old t-shirt, and socks – they are speaking Spanish so rapid fire that Rey can barely pick up a word, and they are moving around the kitchen in such a comfortable rhythm that Rey is nearly mesmerized. Poe also looks adorably messy, the humid air from the cooking food making his hair even fluffier and curlier than usual.

Rey notices Bee, who is sitting in his bed by the window, watching the two men warily. The dog's expression makes her laugh softly, and as the two men look up, Bee trots over to Rey and leans against her legs.

Kes grins. "Rey! Poe says you like to eat!"

Furrowing her brow, Rey looks at Poe. "Seriously, Flyboy? That's what you tell him about me?"

Poe holds up his hands. "Hey, I told him lots of stuff. That is just what appeared to impress him the most."

She shakes her head and goes over to perch on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "You two are scaring the dog. Has he ever heard Spanish before?"

Laughing, Poe comes over and scratches Bee's ears. "Lo siento, Bee." Bee huffs out a cross bark in return, still leaning against Rey's leg that hangs down from the stool.

Rey chuckles, and Poe tries to look irritated. "Inside of a week, my girl has displaced me in my own dog's affections."

"He just has excellent taste," Kes interjects, winking at Rey.

She giggles and looks at Poe, who has straightened up from petting Bee. "Your dad is an effective flirt, Flyboy."

"Is he now?" Poe lifts an eyebrow at her.

"He is." She grins at Poe.

He leans in, pressing his lips to hers and putting his hands on her waist to twist her to face him. Her hands go into his hair, but she keeps the kiss light. Poe doesn't push it either, pulling back a moment later. "And how am I doing?"

"Back into first place." She bumps his nose with hers and rakes her hands through his hair before letting go of him. "And your hair plus humidity is one of the best things I've ever seen. It's so fluffy!" He snorts, and Kes laughs out loud. Rey grins. "But it's a totally manly kind of fluffy. I promise."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't make me threaten to cut it, Sunshine." He gives her a challenging look.

She blinks, holding her hands up in defeat. "Nope. I'm good. Fluffy good. Do not mess with the hair, please." Kes laughs harder, and Poe gives her an affectionate look. She wrinkles up her nose. "Mean."

"You two done?" Kes asks, feigning impatience.

"Just about," Poe responds, leaning in and pecking Rey on the lips again. "Now I'm done."

Rey laughs, turning back around on the stool, her cheeks going pink when she notices Kes watching them. She smiles, trying to squash down her embarrassment. "Can I help?"

Kes looks alarmed, puzzling Rey. Poe laughs. "Dad, she's not like Mom."

"Oh, OK. Then yes." He points at a bowl of potatoes and what she thinks are chayote. "Can you peel and cube the potatoes and peel and slice the chayote, little one, and chunk up the rest of the onion? Poe, finish getting the roasted vegetables and seeds ready while I make the tortillas?"

"Yes, sir! And you're making tortillas from scratch? Can you teach me?" She bounces up, going to the sink to wash her hands.

"Of course. This one," he motions to Poe with his head, "Can do it too."

She looks at Poe. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, Dad taught me when I was a kid." He shrugs. "It's not that hard."

"Cool." She smiles, going to the bowl of vegetables and getting to work. "What did you two mean about me not being like your Mom?"

Poe chuckles. "Mom couldn't cook. Not even a little."

She looks over at Kes. "Really?"

"Yes. Shara could probably burn water. She was so bad in the kitchen." He has a little bit of a sad smile on his face, but Rey can see that he's OK. "Mijo, remember when she set the stove on fire?"

"How could I forget, Dad? I'm the one who had to put it out." Poe laughs.

Kes echoes the sound. "Why do you think I taught a seven-year-old how to douse various kinds of kitchen fires?"

Rey shakes her head and listens quietly as the two men start exchanging stories about Poe's mother. She just soaks it in, smiling and laughing as she works on the vegetables for Kes. Regardless of why Kes showed up today, she is thrilled that he did. Poe is the same, just – more – than usual. He is so clearly happy to have his dad here that it's almost palpable.

Later that evening, after their amazing dinner has been eaten and the kitchen cleaned up, Rey and Poe are out on the deck. Poe sent Kes to bed not long after dinner – his flight had been at six in the morning, and he was clearly dead on his feet. Rey is wearing Poe's hoodie and socks again, this time over sweats and a long-sleeved t-shirt. She's also wrapped in the afghan from the sofa. Even Poe changed into regular sweats and pulled another hoodie out for himself, admonishing her that she can't steal it too.

Poe is in the Adirondack chair with his feet up, and Rey is sitting sideways across his lap, her legs flopped over the armrest. She's playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, and she presses a kiss to his cheek. "Your dad is wonderful."

Poe smiles. "I still can't believe he's here."

She snuggles down into his lap. "Not that I'm not happy to meet him, but why is he here?"

Sighing, Poe explains, "Maz called him."

"Oh good lord. First Mum and now Maz?" Rey can't help the irritation that rolls through her. "We're adults, not children who need our families helicoptering us to death."

"Agreed, and I said pretty much the same thing to Dad. The only good news is that he said he was already re-thinking his position about coming up here. He'd bought a plane ticket for Thanksgiving." He turns his head and looks at her.

She leans over and presses her forehead to his. "I guess that does make it a little better."

"Yeah, but I don't like that Maz called him and told him how upset I was when she talked to me. I didn't want him guilted into coming up here." He sighs again.

She nestles her head into the crook of his neck. "I didn't hear any of your conversation except when you raised your voice and said you know what it's like to be haunted."

"He wanted to know why I hadn't told him that it upset me that he kept saying no to coming here. Maybe I should have told him, but I think, in addition to not wanting to guilt-trip him, I also kind of wanted him to figure it out on his own." He links his hand with hers and laughs at himself. "And men like to call women passive-aggressive."

She lifts their joined hands and presses a kiss to the back of his. "Glad you said that instead of me." He snorts, and she asks, "How long do you think he's going to stay? He's retired, right?"

"Don't know, and yes, he retired last year, a little early. My mom's family had money – he never really needed to work after she died, but he always said he needed something to occupy him." He returns her gesture, kissing the back of her hand.

"I would need that in his situation." She can't help but agree. "I've known you less than two weeks, and I'd be devastated if something happened to you."

"I know. Me too, Sunshine." He leans towards her, capturing her lips with his. The kiss is slow and easy, her hand curling around the back of his neck, his snaking under her t-shirt and hoodie.

When his fingers brush the skin above the waistband of her sweats, she reaches down and stops him. "Poe, as much fun as this is, can we take it to bed? I'm cold, and I also don't particularly relish the notion of your dad coming out and finding us in the middle of something."

He huffs out a breath. "Damn. So yeah, having Dad here is great except now."

She slides off of his lap, holding her hand out to him. "Come on, Flyboy."

He grins and lets her pull him up. He calls Bee, and they turn off lights as they head to the bedroom. The minute she's in the room, she turns to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Still grinning, he reaches down and picks her up. Her legs wrap around his waist as he kicks the door closed behind him, and Bee huffs and goes to his dog bed, making them both laugh as he carries her to the bed.

Some time later, he's sprawled on his back and she's curled against him, her leg thrown across his and her arm across his chest. Once they, well, quieted down and turned out the lights, Bee joined them on the bed, curling up in his now-usual spot against Rey's back. Poe traces lines on her arm, and she sighs contentedly. After a moment, he says, "You still awake?"

"Mmm hmm. But not for long." She turns her head and presses a kiss to his shoulder.

He says quietly, "Sunshine, I warned Dad not to startle you or touch you without you knowing he's there, but he was curious – he figured out that you basically already live here. I didn't want to explain anything to him without talking to you first."

With a sigh, she looks up at him. "Well, that's a refreshing change from Mum and Maz." He snorts, and she goes on, "You can tell him whatever you think he needs to know, Poe. It's OK."

"He did get me to admit that someone hurt you. I think you have another person in line to kill Hux." He rubs her back with the arm wrapped around her.

"I should make you guys t-shirts or something." She tries to joke about it, but she burrows closer into his side, shivering. "He's up for parole next year."

"Leia told me that." He rolls to his left side and pulls her close into his body, as if he can protect her better that way. "I told her that I'd happily fly us all out there to testify to keep the piece of shit inside for at least his full sentence."

She nestles her head into his neck, relaxing into his embrace. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Sunshine." He presses a kiss to the top of her head, and she feels the tension ebb out of him. Two weeks ago, if someone had told her that two weeks from then she'd be falling asleep, sated and warm and heavy, against a man she hadn't met yet, she'd have looked at them like they were crazy. Now, the crazy part is she can't imagine being anywhere else.

X

At his usual five-thirty, Poe quietly rolls out of bed the next morning. He presses a kiss to her temple, murmuring, "Going for my run," and she grumbles what sounds like an affirmative (or maybe an expletive), rolling to her stomach and hugging his pillow. A few minutes later, he leaves the room in his running clothes, Bee close on his heels.

He's surprised when he gets to the kitchen, as his dad is up and dressed similarly to Poe. His dad runs with him when Poe is visiting in Texas; he realizes that he shouldn't be surprised at all. Kes probably runs longer than Poe does every day. "Good morning."

Kes smiles, handing him some water. Poe takes it, going to the pad by the phone and scribbling a note to Rey, telling her that his dad is going running with him. He tapes the note to the coffee maker, and Kes laughs. "She'll find it there?"

"No doubt." He grins. "She's also going to be annoyed that you're as bad as I am about getting up early."

They start out, Poe locking up and setting the alarm behind them. Kes gives him a funny look, but Poe shakes his head. They run for two miles in relative silence, down towards the beach, Poe just occasionally pointing out things of interest. They pause at the beach, and Kes looks at him. "Can you tell me now?"

Poe runs a hand through his hair. "Two years ago, her ex nearly beat her to death. He broke a rib, punctured her lung, and broke the orbital bone around her right eye. He also threw a wine bottle and a glass at her. He pushed her down on the broken glass, and she has scars all over her hip and side."

"What?" Kes looks stunned. "I guessed that she'd been abused, but – "

Sensing that his dad doesn't quite know how to go on, Poe explains everything. Halfway through, Kes drops down and sits on the curb of the sidewalk. Poe carefully lowers himself down the same way, doing his best to be careful with his knee. Bee settles next to Poe, his head on Poe's leg.

By the time Poe finishes with everything about Rey and her ex, Kes is gripping the curb so hard that Poe is afraid he's going to bloody his hands. "She's OK, Dad. She's OK now. He's in prison."

"But only five years, Mijo?" Kes sounds as upset about it as Poe was.

"Plea bargain." Before his dad can object, Poe holds his hands up. "Dad, Rey agreed to it. It was kept quiet in the press – Leia was still in the Senate then – and she wanted it to stay that way."

Kes deflates at that. "But Poe, that still doesn't explain why she's living with you already."

Poe tells Kes what happened with Ben last week, how much he scared Rey and how Han sent her home with Poe. "Dad, I swear, it was innocent. I was going to put her in the room you're in. She asked to not be alone, but there was just sleeping that night."

Kes arches an eyebrow at him. "That night, yes. But since?"

"Yeah, more than sleeping since." Poe blushes lightly. "And that's all I'm saying about that, Dad, other than that she announced that she was staying until I kicked her out, and I told her I'm not kicking her out. I think she feels safe, but that's also why I set the alarm when we left. I just want her to feel safe."

"Good boy, for all of it, but especially for not elaborating. I don't need you to." Kes pats Poe on the right knee, making him jump a bit as Kes pulls his hand back quickly. "Sorry!"

"Dad, it's fine. You just startled me."

"Is it OK? I mean, does it give you trouble?" Kes rubs the back of his neck. "I've never asked you that, have I?"

Poe shakes his head. "You haven't, and that's all right, Dad. Yes, it's OK. I twisted it last week, and it took a day or so for me to be back to normal, but it's generally fine. I just have to take care of it, you know? The running, being careful, all that. And stairs can be a real bitch. You saw that my house is single-story, right?" At Kes's nod, Poe adds, "That was hard as hell to find up here. I do have exercise stuff down in the basement, though. The winters can be a pain, too, but I manage all right."

Kes stands, holding out a hand to Poe. With a rueful grin, Poe takes it, letting Kes pull him up. "Thanks."

"Anytime, kid. Next time tell me to find a damned bench." Kes grins.

They stretch a little, and they start the way back home. As they go, Kes says, "You make her feel safe. I hope it's more than just that."

"I love her, Dad." Poe doesn't blush at all this time, just looks at his dad. "And for the record, while we were both skirting it, she's the one who said it first. But yeah, it's definitely more than safe, though she actually makes me feel safe, too. It's," Poe pauses, searching for the word, "Right. She's home, you know? It's been less than two weeks, and she's my home."

They don't stop running, but Kes reaches out and squeezes Poe's shoulder once. After a beat, he asks, "So, you going to kick Ben Solo's ass?"

Poe huffs out a laugh. "Only if I have to. That's one big son of a bitch, Dad."

By the time they get home, Rey is up and puttering around the kitchen. She has some eggs out on the counter and bread ready for the toaster. As they walk in, she looks up with a smile, unsurprised because Poe texted her as they got close – he let her know that they were near and that he'd told Kes everything. After he presses a kiss to her temple, Kes approaches Rey. She gives him a half-smile, and, after letting her see his hand, he cups her cheek and says, "He's a worthless bastard, little one."

Surprising both Kes and Poe, she just smiles and moves towards Kes, hugging him. Kes responds immediately, hugging her close. She ducks her head into his neck, and Kes gently perches his chin on her head. "No one deserves that kind of treatment, little one, but especially not you. I swear to God, he'll never get close to you again. The Damerons are on the case."

She hugs him back. "Thanks, Kes." She pulls away, looking at Poe. "And after school today, we've been summoned to Mum and Dad's house. Not sure how, but she knows you're here." Rey looks up at Kes.

Kes rolls his eyes. "Of course she does."

X

Packing up for the day, Rey is relieved that her first two days of classes have gone well. She likes to think that she's finding her feet, and at least so far, the kids seem to be responding well to her. True to Poe's word, though, one of the students, a junior in one of her advanced seminars, hung around after class and even asked for her number. She'd said he could feel free to come to office hours or use the campus systems to contact her with questions about the class and bid him a good afternoon. She may have to have Poe be waiting for her after that class on Thursday to get the message across.

She looks up a moment later to a tap on the doorframe. She smiles when she sees the object of her last thought in the doorway. "Hey, Sunshine. About ready to get out of here?"

Closing up her messenger bag, she nods. "I am. Ready for dinner with Mum?" Han will be there, too, but Han isn't the busybody.

Poe rolls his eyes, stepping aside as she leaves and turns to lock her office. "Ready as I can be. I know she means well. At least that's what I keep telling myself."

"Kes may already be there running interference for us." They'd left Kes keys to both Poe's SUV and Rey's Jeep. Rey would lay odds that Kes is likely using the Jeep, top down, just given how his eyes had lit up when she pointed to her keys.

"God, I hope so. Dad can be a good distraction when he wants to be." Poe grins. "And he can also be as pushy as Leia. Hopefully, he's in her kitchen, bugging her by trying to help."

Rey cackles at that idea. Leia taught Rey to cook, but when Leia wants to be in control, she is not so effective at gracefully allowing others to invade her space. As they walk out into the late afternoon sunlight, Rey takes Poe's hand. "Can you come hang out after my advanced seminar on Thursday?"

He cocks an eyebrow. "Does the lady have a suitor?"

She snorts. "You called that one, Flyboy. It's not bad, but I want to disabuse him of any incorrect notions as quickly as possible."

"What about your "Back off, I'm taken" t-shirt idea?" He smirks at her.

"Ha ha," she deadpans.

Under half an hour later, they pull up to Han and Leia's house, exchanging a knowing look at the sight of Rey's Jeep, top down, already parked there. Poe turns to her. "You know he's going to buy one now, right?"

She shrugs and takes off her sunglasses. "He can use mine as much as he wants. But yeah. He lit up when I showed him my keys this morning."

"My dad, the sixty-one-year-old kid." Poe grins fondly and takes his glasses off too, but he turns serious after a moment, surprising her. "Hey, is it OK that he calls you 'Little One?' I know it's what Han and Luke call you, but I want to be sure it's OK with you that Dad does too."

She nods, offering him a small smile. "Yes. Han and Luke call me that because it's what Ben called me."

"Ben?" Poe looks confused.

"Sorry, Ben Kenobi – the man who was raising me before I ended up with Han and Leia. Ben Solo is named after him, though he doesn't quite measure up to the name." Rey frowns.

"We haven't really talked about this, but we don't have to, Sunshine." Poe reaches over and squeezes her hand.

"No, it's OK. My real parents weren't really all that great. They left me with Ben when I was just a baby, which is good – they got hammered and hit a tree with their car, killing them both when I wasn't quite one. I never knew much about them, other than what Ben could tell me, though I guess they were good in that they left me with Ben and didn't end up killing me instead. Ben had been a friend of my biological father's late dad." She feels a wave of sadness. "Ben knew Luke and Han from his time in the military, and then he knew Leia from some work he did between the UK and the UN."

"What happened to him? Why did you end up here?" Poe squeezes her hand again.

"He died of pancreatic cancer. I was five. Leia came when he was sick, and she helped him a lot, both with me and with getting through it." She reaches up and wipes away a tear. "I have a hard time remembering him sometimes. Leia gave me some photos and, as a birthday present last year, she got two old videos of him she had converted to digital. He had the best voice – deep and wise – I used to fall asleep to the sound of his voice reading to me every night. So, yeah. Kes can call me Little One. I like it." She smiles over at Poe, and he leans in to kiss her.

They're just deepening the kiss when they hear a sharp whistle. "Don't make me turn the hose on you two."

They both look up to see that Han has come out and is glaring at Poe, who mutters, "Jesus, you have moved in with me. Does he think we don't kiss?"

Rey cackles at that, but she stops a moment later when Bee shoots out the door behind Han, running for the car and clearing the car door in one bound. He lands part on Poe and part on Rey, knocking the air from both of them. After he catches his breath, Poe says, "Well, hello, Bee."

Rey giggles and coughs at the same time as Bee barks happily and tries to stand, his tail wagging and hitting Poe in the face. Poe opens the car door and pulls himself up, shooing Bee out. "You OK, Sunshine?"

She nods, still wheezing slightly. "Yes, but that hurt a bit."

Han comes over to the car, his expression contrite. "Sorry, Little One. I didn't know he would do that."

Poe snorts. "By 'he,' do you mean me or the dog?"

"Both." Han goes back to glaring at Poe.

Poe and Rey exchange an eyeroll at that, and Poe goes around to pull Rey to her feet. She turns to Han, hands on her hips. "Dad, I'm damn near twenty-nine, and yes, I kiss my boyfriend now and then." At the word boyfriend, Poe grins and Han cringes. Rey, seeing she has Han on the ropes a bit, gets up in his face. "And if you don't behave, I'll give you a detailed list of all the other things I do with him."

Poe chokes a little then, and he covers his eyes with one hand. "Sunshine, seriously, do not say things like that to your father."

"Don't make me agree with you right now, kid," Han growls, "I'm enjoying my very normal overprotective dad moment."

Rey rolls her eyes again, stepping up to Poe, kissing a spot below his ear that she knows makes him a little crazy. "Should I tell him about what we did in the shower this morning?"

Han groans, and Poe yelps, "No!" He shakes his head. "Stop, Rey. I'm begging you now." He's bright red, and Rey kisses his cheek.

"Sorry, Flyboy. I will. But he started it." She gives him a petulant look.

"Did not!" Han huffs.

"Dad, you said you were going to turn the hose on us! That is pretty much textbook 'starting it.'" Rey fires back.

Poe puts the top up on the car as Rey and Han go back and forth, and when it's up, he turns to them. "Do I have to separate you two?"

As they walk inside, raised voices can be heard from the direction of the kitchen. Han grins this time. "No. But you do need to go separate your dad and my wife. They're fighting over the kitchen."

"Why me?" Poe furrows his brow.

"Because you're the only one tied to both of them, Godson of my wife." Han smirks.

Rey links her arm through Han's. "Dad has a point, Flyboy." Poe gives her a betrayed look, but she just laughs and makes a shooing motion towards the kitchen. "Go before they kill each other."

Han and Rey both laugh, and Han calls, "Good luck, kid," as Poe walks away, grumbling.

Han turns to her. "So, Little One, drink?"

"Sounds good. And make one for Poe, too. I'll leave him in there for five minutes, then I'll go run the rescue op." She grins.

"Man, you really must like him a lot." Han nods.

Rey turns and looks towards the kitchen, now hearing Poe's voice in the mix. She grins. "I really do."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: TIME JUMP. Not a big one, but we're moving into the fall. And Kes is still hanging around. Because KES IS AWESOME IN MY HEAD. And some angst and conflict ahead, because it's fanfic, and you can't have an ultimately happy ending without some angst and conflict first. Warning – this gets dark (I seriously don't know exactly where it came from) – there is a very brief and vague mention of self-harm and attempted suicide.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Poe packs up his bag after his Monday afternoon class, wondering where Rey is. She usually sits in on Monday afternoons, parked quietly in the back row, listening intently. This is the first time in five weeks of classes that she didn't show. After answering questions from students – many of them girls, but those have at least stopped it with the makeup and flirting and revealing outfits (word traveled like lightning that "Dr. D has a girlfriend, that new engineering prof," likely prompting the significant drop off in unwanted attention, both for him and for Rey) – he pulls out his phone to call her.

When he does, he sees that he has a text from her. He furrows his brow at the content, that Leia picked her up earlier because of something going on at home. She also asks him to come meet her there at Han and Leia's house. He has his bag, so he heads straight for the parking lot. He doesn't want to call Rey – he doesn't want her to think he's worrying too much, as they've had a few conversations about hovering, both him over her and her over him.

He does the next best thing – he calls his dad. He shakes his head as he walks. He can't believe that his dad is still here. After two weeks at Poe's house, he showed up and said he was moving in – at Poe and Rey's confused looks, he'd elaborated that he was moving into the garage apartment at Han and Leia's. The weekend prior, they'd moved the rest of Rey's stuff to Poe's house, acknowledging to Leia in particular that yes, it is official.

To that end, Rey even updated her address with the university and changed her pending driver's license forms. At first, they'd tried to argue with Kes, telling him he can stay as long as he wants. Kes had just shaken his head and said that he wants to stay a while and to have his own space. He now also has a Jeep a lot like Rey's, his though hers is blue and his is fire-engine red.

As he climbs into his car, he dials his dad on his headset (the car is too old for bluetooth, and he hasn't wanted to do it aftermarket), keeping the top up so he can hear him. His dad picks up on the second ring. "Was wondering when you'd call, Mijo."

"Dad, what is going on?" Poe does his best not to sound completely freaked out.

He apparently fails. "Settle down, kid. She's here and likely fine. Family issue, as far as I can tell, but Han already said he'd text me if they need me to come to the house."

"OK, Dad," he zips the car out of its space and nearly flies out of the parking lot, "That does precisely nothing to settle me down. Why would you need to go to the house?"

Kes sighs. "Because Ben is there."

Poe blinks a few times. "What the hell, Dad?"

"I don't know, kid. Something is up. Han looked worried when I talked to him down at the house. I hope you don't mind – I went and got Bee for Rey. He looks after her with a little more subtlety than I can muster." Kes sounds frustrated. "I think it's about Ben, though. I think he's in some kind of trouble. I don't think it's about Rey at all."

"Of course, I don't mind, but did you talk to her?" She's only been in his life for about six weeks, but Poe gets downright twitchy at the notion of Rey even slightly upset.

"Just for a minute when I dropped off Bee. She was OK, Mijo. She was glad to see Bee, but she didn't look afraid and said she was fine – believe me, I asked. I know that's what you're really worried about."

Poe lets out a breath. "All right. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, give or take. Do they want me to go straight to the house?"

"Yes. Han and I knew you'd call me. He asked that you come straight to the house – don't knock, just go on in like you usually would. Han seemed to think that Ben wants you to hear whatever he has to tell." Kes pauses. "And son, do not go in there guns blazing. I know you want to protect her, but you need to not assume the worst, OK? She won't appreciate it. She likes that you make her feel safe, but you also need to let her take care of herself. She's a grown woman."

Poe runs a hand through his hair. "I know, Dad. Thanks, though, for the reminder."

"No problem," Kes replies, "See you soon, kid."

They hang up, and Poe does his best to focus on the road. He also tries to calm down, taking steady, deep breaths, trying to heed his dad's advice. It's hard for him. He's actually gone back to the therapist he used after his injury, just a few visits to get his head on straight regarding how to manage his over-protective nature, especially in the wake of what happened to Jess.

He is terrified of Rey getting hurt, but he's also terrified of driving her away. When he took her flying last Saturday, watching her face as he let her take the controls, the thought flashed through his head that he wants to marry her and needs to figure out how long he has to wait to ask her.

He shakes his head, trying to clear it. He mutters to himself, "Focus, Dameron. Try not to smother her, just be cool."

He stops at a light, and his phone dings three times with new text messages. He looks down at it, and he reads the two messages waiting for him, the second making him smile despite the mounting anxiety in his chest, and then he sees the third, a picture, helping to actually ease the anxiety completely. At least she's quickly figured out how to settle him down.

X

 _Ninety Minutes Earlier_

Rey just finished her last class when her phone rings. She hears it buzzing in her bag as she talks to some students about some questions they have on the day's lecture. She goes over to her bag and pulls out her phone, which just stopped ringing. Expecting it to have been from Poe, she blinks in surprise when she sees that it was actually Leia. She hits the button to call her back. A moment later, Leia answers, "Rey?"

"Mum, what's up? You never call me at work." She furrows her brow.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm outside, parked near Poe's car in the faculty lot. I need you to come to the house with me." Leia sounds worried.

Rey grabs her bag and leaves the classroom, some of the students watching her in surprise. "Mum, what's wrong? Is Dad all right? Is Kes?" Instead of waiting for the elevator, she hits the stairs, nearly running down them.

"I'll explain in the car, but Han and Kes are both fine." Leia's voice holds none of its usual edge or energy, and Rey feels almost sick with worry.

She's at the parking lot lightning fast, and she sees Leia's late-model BMW X5 idling there. Rey jumps in the passenger seat, pulling on her seatbelt as Leia backs up. Before Rey can ask what is wrong again, Leia says, "Ben is at the house. He's in trouble, Rey. I know there's no love lost between you two, but I'm starting to understand some things. He has messed up big time, Rey."

"I don't understand, Mum." Rey frowns. "Why do you need me?"

"He wants to apologize, and he wants to explain." Leia gives her a beseeching look.

"Mum, I don't owe him this. He treated me like garbage from the moment I walked in the door at five years old." Leia looks surprised, but Rey shakes her head. "He didn't do it where you could see it when we were kids, Mum. I was the interloper – the unwanted. He made sure I knew it. He was nine, and already big. I just learned to stay out of his way. Why do you think I spent so much time with Dad in the garage and at the library with Uncle Luke?"

"How did I not know about this, Rey? Why didn't you tell us?" Leia looks even more upset.

Rey shrugs. "You were busy with the UN, Dad with his transport business, and I was happy to have a home. Ben would tell me that I was going to be sent to an orphanage in England if I misbehaved or caused any trouble. I was five and alone. I believed him."

"I'm so sorry, Rey." Leia looks stricken.

With a sigh, Rey debates how much of this she should unload, but she wants Leia to understand. "It wasn't your fault, Mum. After what happened with Armitage, I got a therapist. At first, I just needed to talk about current events, but we eventually started picking at root causes. My parents left me. My first Ben, though not intentionally, left me. My second Ben hated me and wasn't shy about telling me so. You and Han gave me a home but weren't around much. Luke and Finn were somewhat constant but had troubles of their own. Then Mike cheated on me, then Armitage beat me. I have never felt completely secure. Everything in my life has felt ephemeral on a good day, horrifying and painful on a bad one."

"Until Poe?" Leia stops the car at a light, looking at Rey.

Rey blinks, but after a moment, she nods. "Yes. Until Poe. I feel security with him. He's my home now, you know? In six weeks, he has become my North Star, so to speak. Sometimes he drives me a little crazy with the early rising and the neatness and the rather stifling need to keep me safe – he's working on that last part, by the way – but even that is reassuring. He cares enough about me to try to work through it." She looks down, picking at a thread on her shirt. "If I lost him, I'd be done with trying to connect. I know that sounds awful, but I can't lose any more, Mum."

"I wish you'd talked to us, Rey." Leia sighs. "But I understand why you didn't."

Rey wraps her arms around herself. "I think Luke knew, or at least I think he had a feeling. He gave me a sanctuary in the library at the university. Ben was certainly never going to bother me there. I don't think he ever even darkened the door of that place. Between Uncle Luke and all the books," Rey smirks, trying to lighten things even fractionally, "It was like Ben-repellant."

Leia snorts. "My son really isn't much of a reader, is he?"

Leia's hand rests on the gearshift, so Rey reaches over, covering it with her own. "Mum, it's OK now. I'm OK. It took a while, but once I started recognizing the stuff I was hauling around and what it was, I started to do better. Luckily, I found someone whose baggage compliments mine," pausing, Rey adds, "But I am going to have to see how much I'm willing to hear from Ben. He did a lot to make my childhood hard. What is really going on here, Mum?"

"After he talks to us, we're calling the FBI. He's turning himself in to them." Leia sounds nearly broken.

"What?" Rey sits up straighter.

Leia holds up a hand. "I don't know yet. That's all he'd say. I've been worried about him for a few years, though, since he went to work for First Order. I don't trust Reginald Snoke any further than I could throw him. Some of Han's old clients warned us about him"

Rey processes that for a moment. "Mum, tell me something – I assumed that you retired from the Senate to protect me – to try to ensure that what happened to me wouldn't hit the press. Was it because of this instead?"

This time, Leia pulls off the road into a parking lot. After a moment, she says, "It was a little of both."

"Mum –" Rey begins.

"Rey, it was the right thing to do. Right for you, right for our family, right for my constituents. It was the right thing to do," she pauses, "Hell, it was even right for Luke and Poe. I got letters threatening all of you with publicity – for you, obvious things, of course; for Luke and Poe, it was things no one should know about their respective recoveries, their struggles with PTSD and depression, missions that went sideways, even accusations that Poe should have been sidelined after Jess was killed. I have sacrificed a lot in my career, Rey, but it was too much even for me. He knew that my only real soft spots were my family."

Rey stares at Leia. She feels ill, especially thinking about how damaging those kinds of stories would be to Poe and Uncle Luke – she doesn't care about herself at all in this. "Why? Why did they want you out?" Her voice is a whisper.

"They wanted the seat to go to someone they were backing – someone who would have helped them slip past Federal oversight committees. They didn't plan on Jyn Erso-Andor and Cassian Andor and their grass roots base, though." Leia manages a wry grin when she refers to the young Senator who took Leia's seat, a retired Special Forces operative and her husband, Cassian, also retired from the service and who now owns a private corporate security firm. "I'm sure Jyn really mucked up their plans."

"Good." Rey is getting more pissed off by the moment. "Did Ben know about the threats, Mum?"

"I don't think so, sweetheart. Snoke was direct – he showed up at the house one day when Han was out. I think even Ben might've been appalled. I like to hope that he would've been." She shakes her head.

Rey sees easily that her usually-unshakeable mother is decidedly shaken. Realizing that it's already 3:15, she pulls out her phone and shoots a text to Poe, telling him to come to Han and Leia's house after class. After she puts the phone away, she reaches over and undoes Leia's seat belt. That knocks Leia out of her fog. "Change places with me, Mum."

"Rey, I'm fine."

"No, Mum, you're not. Get out of the car and come over here." Rey gets out and marches around to the driver's side, opening the door. "Now, Mum."

Leia complies, an irritated look on her face. Once they're both in their new seats, Rey says quietly, "I get that you think you can handle it, Mum, but you need to learn to accept help. I had to learn the same thing. It's a bitch-and-a-half to master, but it's important. You do not have to be all things to all people, and you can be broken now and then. It's weaker to pretend everything is fine – asking for help, that's what takes strength."

Leia sighs and says softly, "We are what they grow beyond."

"What?" Rey lifts an eyebrow, then she catches herself, thinking that she's turning into Poe.

"We are what they grow beyond. It's something one of Luke's old teachers told him – it resonated with him, and he shared it with me." Leia looks out the window. "If you ever have kids, you'll understand it – hell, even with your students, you'll understand it one day. Your children, your students, you teach them, prepare them, and one day, they start to teach you back." She looks at Rey, a thoughtful look on her face. "You're right. I really suck at letting people help me."

Rey snorts, pulling Leia into a hug. "That you do, Senator. That you do."

They sit there like that for a while, Rey more than willing to let Leia be the one to pull back when she's ready – her mother clearly needs the comfort, as they stay that way for a long time, at least half an hour. Eventually, Leia pulls back, softly saying, "We should get back, or your Knight in Shining Armor will beat us there." They both put their seatbelts on, and Rey puts the car in gear and they pull onto the road, continuing on towards the house. Leia asks, "It was Poe you texted, right?"

"Yes." Rey nods. "I've been sitting in on his Monday afternoon Freshman History class. I never cared much for History, but he actually makes it fascinating."

"Auditing Freshman History? You really are in love with him." Leia smirks, and Rey is happy for even the likely temporary change in mood. Rey shrugs and turns a little pink, and Leia adds, "You know he's going to come in there ready to fight people to protect you, right?"

"I didn't say anything about Ben!" Rey protests. "I just said there was a family thing and to come meet me at your house."

"Yes, sweetie, but Kes knows. Poe won't call you – he'll want to respect you, not bother you. He'll call Kes." Leia's voice is kind, but Rey still winces.

"Shit. He will, won't he?" She frowns. "Maybe I should text him again when we get there."

"Might not be a bad idea, kiddo." Leia sighs again. "I just want all my kids to be OK. That's all I want. And I know it might not happen. I know Ben has been a real jackass, but he's still – " Leia has to stop and take a deep breath.

"He's still your son, Mum. Hell, even when I feel like I want to tell him to just bugger the hell off, I still generally want him to be OK." After a pause, Rey adds, "We do need to keep some distance between him and Poe, though, especially if Ben is going to be combative. Poe will kill him, Mum, I really think he will, if Ben ever again grabs me like he did last time."

"Honestly, I think Luke might, too, and now Kes as well. Your bodyguards are numerous and enthusiastic." Leia says it in a way that tells Rey it was meant as a joke, but especially concerning Poe and Kes, she knows it's accurate. They go quiet for the rest of the ride, pulling up outside the house a few minutes later, Rey noticing that Kes's new red Jeep isn't there but a large Mercedes sedan is.

When they walk in, they head straight for the living room. When they get there, Han stands at the window, and Ben is sprawled on the sofa, one arm across his eyes. Rey is shocked to note that he's even paler than usual, unshaven, hair a mess, and he's wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Unable to stop herself, Rey actually blurts out, "Ben Solo owns jeans?" in an incredulous voice.

From his place on the sofa, Ben huffs out a laugh. He uncovers his eyes, taking in Rey's appearance. She's dressed in a sweatshirt tunic dress, leggings, and her ubiquitous Converse. Even so, she looks miles more put together than Ben, who is far more apt to wear custom suits that cost thousands than the well-worn jeans he has on. "Hi, little sister."

Rey narrows her eyes, immediately irked by the familiarity where none is acceptable to her. She refuses to make this easy for him. "Call me Rey, Ben. You've never once treated me like I'm your sister. If you think it's that easy, you have a hell of a lot to learn."

He blows Rey's mind by looking embarrassed. "Sorry. And you're right, Rey."

Leia comments quietly, "Rey, go text Poe again, OK?"

Rey steps out into the hallway intending to do just that, but she veers towards the kitchen, realizing that she needs a moment. She gets herself a glass of water, but she notices the bar cabinet. Without a second thought, she opens it, grabs a bottle of Patrón and pours herself a shot. OK, maybe a double-shot. She downs it in one gulp, hissing at the strong taste but then relishing the warmth it creates in her chest. She drains half of the water glass to wash down the taste and hopefully douse any tequila-breath.

After giving herself a moment, she heads back into the hall. She's about to pull out her phone when she hears a knock at the front door. She opens the door only to be nearly tackled by a fuzzy orange and white blur. "Bee? How did you get here?"

Kes steps inside behind the dog. "Han came and told me that Ben was here, and that Leia was going to get you. I went and got Bee for you just in case you needed a bit of back-up." Kes rubs his hand on the back of his neck, a mirror of Poe. "Are you all right, Little One?"

Rey sighs. "I'm fine, Kes, really." She smiles slightly when Bee leans against her leg, snuffling his snout into her hand. "Thank you for bringing me Bee."

"Anytime, Mija." Rey's smile widens at the diminutive, something he's never used with her. "Text me if you need me, OK?"

She leans forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I will." After letting her see his hands, he pulls her into a gentle hug. "Thank you, Kes." He squeezes her one more time and releases her.

With a wave, he backs out the front door. She hears his phone ring as he leaves, and then she hears his voice say, "Was wondering when you'd call, Mijo."

Rey sighs, crouching down to pet Bee. "What are we going to do with Daddy, Bee?" After what she hopes is enough time for Kes and Poe to finish their call, she pulls out her phone, sending a text to Poe saying that she's fine and asking him to come to the living room when he gets to the house. Then she sends another text, this one simply saying, "I SWEAR, I'M FINE. SO STAND DOWN, FLYBOY."

After that, she holds up her phone with the camera on, takes a selfie of her with Bee, and sends that. With a decisive nod, she stands. "Come on, Bee." She heads back to the living room, Bee in her wake, hoping that the messages will be enough to keep Poe calm until he gets here and hoping that the dog and the tequila will be enough to do the same for her.

X

Poe pulls up in front of Leia and Han's house, taking a few more deep breaths to center himself, something his therapist taught him to do. If only for Rey's sake, it's important to him that he keep it together. After one last, long exhale, he gets out of the car and heads for the front door of the house.

He lets himself in, relieved to hear that it's mostly quiet inside. He hears voices from the living room, both the lower rumble of male voices and Leia's soft but deep voice. When he closes the door behind him, it makes a creaking sound, and that is followed by the scrabble of paws on wood floors. Seconds later, both Bee and Chewie barrel out of the living room, barking loudly. It only takes them a moment to recognize him, and they quiet down, both running to him in greeting.

He shakes his head in amusement when Chewie leans against the front of Poe's legs to get petted while a clearly jealous Bee headbutts the much larger dog, trying to displace him. He looks up a moment later at the sound of Rey's voice. "Hey, Flyboy."

The relief he feels at seeing her looking almost exactly the same as she had when they had lunch together floods him. He walks towards her, displacing Chewie, and she meets him halfway. Then, she's wrapped in his arms, him pulling her as tight into his chest as he can. "Sunshine, are you all right?"

She nods against his shoulder. "I am. We've been waiting for you."

He steps back slightly, pressing his forehead to hers. "What is going on, Rey?"

"Ben's in some sort of trouble. He wants to tell us something, we think it's related to his work. He wants you here to hear it, not sure why. According to Mum, we're calling the FBI for Ben to talk to them after he talks to us."

His eyes widen. He did not see that one coming. "Holy shit."

"Yeah, pretty much." She cups his face in her hands, and her eyes lock on his. "Now it's my turn to ask. Are you all right?"

He nods. "Now that I'm here and you're OK, yes. If Ben wants me to hear all of this too, why did Leia have to come get you earlier?"

"I think she mainly wanted to talk to me some first. We had an interesting conversation in the car, one that I think we've needed to have for a long time." She leans in, pressing a kiss to his lips.

His hand goes into her hair, and he's amazed that this relatively short, chaste kiss does more to center him than any deep breathing ever has, though he does notice something. She pulls back a moment later, slipping one of her small hands into his much larger one. "Come on. Let's go hear him out."

He resists briefly, tugging her back to him, a concerned look on his face. "Tequila, Sunshine?"

She shrugs and gives him a sheepish look. "Seemed like a good idea."

He leans in, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. "It was. Just wish you'd waited for me."

She laughs softly at that. "I love you."

"I love you too, Sunshine." He squeezes her hand, and he lets her lead him towards the living room, Chewie and Bee trotting along behind them.

When they get into the living room, nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Ben Solo who looks, for the lack of a better term, rumpled. Ben and Leia look up as Rey and Poe enter. Ben meets Poe's eyes and says, "Dameron."

Poe arches an eyebrow. "Solo." Poe holds his eyes steady on Ben's, unwilling to back down or be the first to look away.

Leia rolls her eyes despite the tension in the room. "If either of you pee on something to mark your territory, I'm sending you a bill for the cleaning."

Rey and Han both snort, even Ben cracks a small smile, and Poe can't help but chuckle self-consciously and look at Leia. "Really, Leia?"

"Just calling it like I see it, kid." Leia catches his eye, and he sees something there that he can't quite read. It's a weird mix of apprehension and sadness, but at the edges of it, he can see Leia's usual fire, which is reassuring to him.

"Yes, ma'am. No peeing on stuff. Got it." He smirks at her, and he puts his hand gently on Rey's lower back, guiding her to the empty love seat. Han sits in a chair, and he's as unreadable as usual. Ben and Leia are both on the sofa, and now that they're even closer up, he sees that Ben is actually haggard, with deep circles under his eyes.

They're all silent for a moment until Han finally huffs and says, "Ben, this is your show. Get it on the road."

"Right." Ben swallows hard. "This is something of a long story."

"Longer if you don't get started already," Rey gives him an impatient look, and Poe takes her hand. He looks at her, and there's fire there too, just like with Leia. He realizes that she is pissed off, and he finds himself relieved that it's not at him.

Ben bristles, but then he deflates. "Three-and-a-half years ago, when I took the job I did with First Order, it was to work on the M&A team, Mergers and Acquisitions. He recruited me out of the investment bank where I'd been working, and it was painted to be a job using my finance background."

"But it wasn't?" Han is the one to speak again, and it occurs to Poe that it's unusual for Leia to let him take the lead except when it comes to Ben.

Ben shrugs. "It was at first. But then Snoke, the CEO, would start showing up at my office and asking me questions about my family. They seemed innocuous enough. Names, what they did, where they lived."

Poe starts to get a sick feeling in his gut. "Who all did he ask about, Ben?"

Raking both of his hands through his hair, Ben hesitates before replying, "All of you. Plus Uncle Luke. Mom, Dad, Rey, Luke, and you." He looks at Poe. "The Godson. Snoke knew that, and it should have been my first clue that something was weird. But I was an idiot. I just was impressed that the CEO was paying attention to me. The job itself was huge, big money, big opportunity. The exposure to Snoke just seemed like a good situation getting better."

The information makes Poe feel a little ill, and he catches Leia's eye. She looks guilty, which makes no sense. He makes a note to talk to her about it later. Ben stands, starting to pace. "That's when shit got even weirder. Fall three years ago, his questions about you, Rey, got more detailed. Where you were in school, all of that. I just thought he was thinking about Aerospace investments or something like that. He wasn't. I know what he wanted now. He wanted leverage."

The sick feeling in Poe's gut gets worse, and he feels Rey go tense next to him. Leia's voice is small and appalled when she says, "Me. But Ben, this sounds like more than we talked about this morning."

"It is, Mum. It's the part Rey needs to hear," he pauses, "Five days ago, I basically hit an iceberg of a file. The top was bad enough, it was just called 'Senate Oversight,' and it was a detailed description of things about everyone in this room as well as Luke. Medical records, psych evaluations, articles, prescription drug records, the psych stuff and the drug records on Luke and Poe in particular. He had a pile of secrets, and it didn't take long to figure out why my mother, dedicated Senator and public servant, wildly popular in her home state, was retiring at less than sixty."

Poe starts to say something, but Rey squeezes his hand and Leia shakes her head. Poe bites his tongue, but he feels the rage starting to build. With her free hand, Rey starts to rub Poe's back. Ben doesn't notice – he just goes on, "Snoke is a cold, rotten bastard. It took no time at all for me to figure out that he'd coerced you into retiring, Mom. I'm so damned sorry."

Ben takes a deep breath. "But this gets worse." Poe can't quite imagine how, but Ben looks straight at Rey. "Rey, I'm so sorry. I swear to God I had no idea."

"No idea about what, Ben?" Rey is already shaking, and Poe wraps his arm around her.

Ben's looks like he's going to be sick, and his next words suck all the air out of the room. "Armitage Hux was working for Snoke. It was a set up. A months-long set up, right down to somehow making it look like Hux was a grad student, getting him in with Rey's friends. It was so ridiculously layered – Snoke must have wanted to be sure that Mom had to focus away from DC, and that it would be something we might want quiet. He wanted us truly vulnerable."

Ben has to stop and take a deep breath. "The records I found this weekend show that he wanted you out of DC for a vote, Mom, the one expanding oversight that would've ensnared First Order, that didn't pass because they didn't have you and Senator West – and I found a file on him, too. Those records were of his daughter's fight with anorexia and self-harm. His daughter attempted suicide that week – I have to assume that Snoke had a hand in driving her to that. As for Hux, the file also had these sick as fuck descriptions of Hux's escalation with Rey. The bastard was journaling it all for Snoke right down to the night he nearly killed her."

Rage screams through every fiber of Poe's being, but it crests and ebbs away at the sound of a whimper from next to him. For a moment, he thinks it was Rey, but then he realizes that she's limp against him. Bee was the source of the whimper. Without another word, Poe stands and lifts Rey, fainted dead away, carrying her out of the room. As he leaves, Bee right on his heels, he hears the sound of breaking glass and Han's voice saying, "I will kill the son of a bitch."

Poe doesn't pay attention to anything but Rey. He carries her to the room that was his when he lived here, the only place he can think of to go. Bee goes in ahead of him, and Poe walks straight to the bed and places Rey gently on it – he looks at her for a moment – she was an innocent in this, and she nearly died, over fucking business. Bee curls up next to Rey, as close as he can get.

After checking Rey to ensure that she's breathing OK and that her heart rate isn't through the roof, Poe goes back and shuts the door behind them, resting his forehead against the door, pushing the rage down again. It won't help him or Rey, and right now he only has room for things that will help.

He wants to get on the bed with her and hold her, but he's afraid that might scare her when she wakes up. So, instead, he drags a chair over from the desk, turning it sideways next to the head of the bed. He sits down, propping his feet up on the bed. He then takes her hand, holding it tight and giving her the time she needs to wake up on her own. As he waits, he's pretty sure no one would blame him for imagining increasingly creative and brutal ways to kill Snoke.

X

Rey comes to with a gasp, sitting up and looking around. "Hey, you're OK." She jumps a little at the sound of Poe's voice, and her eyes land on him as he pulls his feet from where they were propped on the edge of the bed she's on. Bee is tucked in tight to her side, and he moves his head to rest on her hip, whining piteously. "Breathe, Sunshine." She feels something squeeze her hand, and she realizes that Poe has one hand wrapped around hers.

She squeezes back and takes a deep breath as she gets her bearings, the awful conversation from – well, she has no idea how long she was out – filtering back. It takes her a moment to figure out that she's in a guest room at her parents' house. "How long have I been out?"

Without letting go of her hand, Poe stands and perches on the edge of the bed. "Only about twenty minutes, maybe a little less," he pauses briefly, "Rey, what can I do to help you with this? I have no idea what to do. I mean, I want to hunt Snoke down and kill him, but that will probably only help me feel better."

She leans forward, hugging him to her. He wraps her tight in his arms, and the movement makes Bee move, leaning his body against her side. Her boys. Just having them here helps. After a beat, she mumbles, "Just when I think my life can't get any more fucked up, my life is just like, 'Hold my beer.'"

Poe snorts and leans back enough to press a kiss to her forehead. "Rey, I want to ask you something, but after I do, you know you can say that you don't want to talk about it, OK?"

She nods. "OK."

"It occurs to me that you and he were together for a while, and you might have – " He stops. "Damn it, I don't even know how to ask this."

She's puzzled for a moment, and then she blinks. "We never had sex."

Poe's eyes widen. "What?"

"That's what you were wondering, right? Does this turn into something even worse for me – that, given the fraud here, that he essentially raped me multiple times?" She gets tears in her eyes. It frustrates her, but she wants to clarify this for him. At Poe's nod, she goes on, "We tried three times. He never could, for lack of a better word, perform. My head was so fucked up at that point that I just believed it was because I was so unattractive to him that he couldn't get into it. In a twisted way, this helps."

Poe blinks. "Not to sound flippant, Sunshine, but this I have to hear."

"It wasn't about me. He didn't want me because he never wanted me, not because there was something actually wrong with me." A tear slips out, and he reaches up and wipes it away with his thumb. At his dumbstruck expression, she shrugs. "Weird. I know. My therapist will have a field day with this."

"That is impressively glass-half-full there." He brushes her hair back. "When did you black out, Rey?"

"I believe the last thing I heard was 'sick as fuck descriptions,'" she sighs heavily, "Then I woke up here. Thank you for getting me out of there for a minute, by the way."

He nods. "You're welcome. What do you want to do now?"

"I need to know more, Poe. I need to know what he plans to do now – Ben, that is." She hopes he doesn't fight her on this. She sees his expression darken, sees his hesitation. "Fight it, Flyboy," she says softly, "I may have fainted like a Victorian-era girl, but I'm not made of glass. Fight the urge to protect me from this."

He drags a hand through his hair. "It's hard, Rey." Before she can respond, he adds, "But OK."

"And now I'm going to protect you a little." He looks confused, and she explains, "Snoke blackmailed, because yes, that's what it fucking was, Mum with threats to release information about you and Luke, but it wasn't just PTSD and depression – Snoke told her he had a report that indicated that you should have been sidelined after Jess."

Poe leans back, blinking. "What the fuck? Rey, my relationship with Jess was very, very quiet. It didn't even come up in the debrief. And trust me, that kind of shit? Comes up in the debrief." Their eyes meet. "Rey, I need to talk to Ben. Now. They have to have someone inside."

She stands, swaying slightly from a head rush. He steadies her. "You OK?"

"Yes. Just took a second." She looks at him. "Can we stop for more tequila first?"

He arches an eyebrow and says, "I'm thinking we just need to get the whole bottle and a straw."

She takes his hand, glad that they're able to stay themselves even in the face of this kind of hell. "Perfect." She opens the door, and she stops for a moment. "Was this your room?"

He rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah. It was the one place I knew to take you that I could get to quickly."

"Thank you, Poe." She leans in, kissing him gently.

She then takes his hand and drags him to the kitchen, where they both down a rather generous shot of the Patrón. He also makes her take a bottle of water, saying, "Woman, you were basically unconscious ten minutes ago."

Taking his hand again, they head back to the living room. Just before the entrance, Rey pauses, taking a deep breath. He squeezes her hand, and they go in together, Bee, as usual, right at their heels. Leia's eyes are red, Ben is back on the couch, this time with his head in his hands, and Han is pacing, looking ready to rip someone's head off.

Rey clears her throat, and they all look up. Ben stands. "Rey, I'm – "

She holds up her free hand, cutting him off. "Stop apologizing, Ben. It's done. What we want to know is what's next."

Poe nods. "That, and Ben, how the hell did Snoke know about Jess?"

Ben, Leia, and Han all looked surprised by the fact that Rey and Poe are both resolute as opposed to broken. Rey thinks to herself that she'll unpack that – their lack of faith in her stability and in Poe's – later. Rey levels a hard look at Ben. "It's time to make things right, Big Brother." She uses the name on purpose, a small token of forgiveness. "It's time to take that son of a bitch down."

 **Author's Note:** **So, yes. I hate Ben, but I'm willing to see some level of redemption for him. This is the kind of redemption I'm ok with as opposed to the all is forgiven model. Dues need to be paid, you know?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: This will fluff back up soon, and then it will move towards the end (at least a few more chapters, though) – minor warning, panic attacks are discussed, and someone has one. More dark themes, but there's light at the end of the tunnel, er, chapter.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Poe and Rey park themselves on the loveseat again, and Poe looks right at Ben. Something occurs to him that doesn't make sense. He has to take the anger out of his voice – he knows that Ben didn't have to come to them with this. "Ben, I want to understand something – how did you find this file, and maybe more importantly, why? As much as you said things seemed weird, that doesn't necessarily tell us why you would start digging deep – I mean, I assume Snoke has no idea what you found?"

"I don't think he does. To be honest, if he did, I don't think I'd have made it to this house in one piece." Ben is dead serious, and Leia and Han both stare at him in shock.

"Say more, kid." Han's voice is a growl at this point.

Ben sighs, and he gets up and starts to pace again. "It only took about six months at First Order for me to figure out that it was pretty shady. I was finding discrepancies in the financials, we were making large investments that we called 'lucky' but that it was fairly clear to me had to be based on insider information. That bothered me, but I admit it, I didn't raise my hand. I was so stupid – I should have come to you then, Mom, but I just decided I didn't understand the big picture enough and it was nothing." He gives Leia a pained look.

"Yes, you should have come to me then." Leia looks furious. "Ben, in all those fancy Business Schools we paid for, didn't you have to take a class on Business Ethics?"

"What do you want me to say, Mom? I fucked up. I liked the money and the prestige that was mine because of me and not you - the great Leia Organa-Solo, heiress, philanthropist, and dedicated public servant. I hated the shadow. I loved you, but I hated the shadow." He huffs out a breath. "And it's also done, and it's why I'm calling the FBI after we're done here. But it's not the only reason."

"Stuff went on that I saw, all White Collar crime, but you get numb to that." He stops and stares out the window. Rey looks at Poe, and they both shake their heads. Poe can't wrap his mind around looking the other way the way Ben did, and judging from her expression, neither can Rey. Ben goes on, "But then it was something different."

"What was different?" Rey asks this time, an edge to her voice.

"About six weeks ago, actually two days before that disastrous dinner here, a colleague went missing. She was a friend, Jane Phasma. She was in the Chief Financial Officer's leadership team, the head of the Mergers team from Finance. She was brilliant." Ben's voice goes soft at the end. "She was also a mentor for me."

Poe picks up on the verb tense Ben is using. "Ben, you keep saying 'was.' What happened to her? Is she dead or just gone from the company?"

"The first one, Captain. Good ear." He turns to face them, and he looks haunted. "I'm the one who found her, dead in her apartment in Manhattan, the morning of that dinner here. She had a bullet through her head, and there was a typed suicide note saying that life was just too hard and other stuff that sounded typical for that kind of note."

"But?" Poe is the one who continues to push – Leia and Han in particular look dumbfounded by all of this. It occurs to Poe that no matter how often people show you who they are, it's hard for parents to believe them. Rey and Poe both are clearly less stunned – both of them took shit from Ben over the years – he was spectacularly unpleasant to Poe on a couple of visits the year Poe lived here, but Poe was too grateful to Leia and Han to make a fuss about it.

"But it didn't make sense. It was out of left field. She and I were actually friends outside of the office, and she was happy. She was leaving on a vacation soon, she had a niece taking a gap year between high school and college who she was taking on a trip to Europe, she was thinking about places where she wanted to retire. There was nothing discernibly wrong in her world, and as I talked to her other friends and even her mother in the last several weeks, they were all as puzzled as I was." Ben sighs.

"So, you started looking at work?" Rey asks the question, squeezing Poe's hand. If this all wasn't such a mess, he'd be amused by the fact that the two most traumatized people in the room seem to be the ones holding up the best. Han and Leia both look vaguely ill at this point.

"Yes." Ben comes over to the loveseat, sitting on a chair next to it. "I had a lot of access due to my job. I also did a lot of programming as a teenager. I knew how to dig but leave little to no tracks."

Leia finally finds her voice. "Ben, do you think Snoke had Ms. Phasma killed?"

"I have no doubt. Not only did I find a few emails from her to the CFO indicating concerns with the numbers on a few deals and some SEC filings, I also got a package from her attorney." Ben drops his head into his hands, and Poe feels the most unexpected rush of sympathy that he's ever experienced. It occurs to him that while he always thought Ben was an asshole and a spoiled brat, he never truly hated him except maybe when he grabbed Rey.

Rey releases Poe's hand, and she drops to her knees in front of Ben. "What was in the package, Ben?"

"Copies of filings, documents about clearly illegal deals, and a list of file names. She found it all first. She'd put it all in a safe deposit box that her attorney had access to, with instructions to send it to me if something happened to her. She knew, and she had enough faith in me that I'd follow through." Ben looks up at Rey, and Poe moves closer to them both, still sitting on the sofa. "That's when I found all the information about all of you. I knew I had to do something. So, here I am."

"Where are all the files, Ben?" Poe asks this time.

"In my car. Outside." He digs into his pocket, pulling out a set of keys that he hands to Poe. "In the trunk."

Holding the keys, Poe levels a hard look at Ben. "Ben, you looked the other way a lot. I don't know much about Securities laws, but that sounds like collusion and maybe even conspiracy to me."

Rey looks at him, clearly about to protest, but Ben stops her. "He's right, Rey. I'm probably going to do some time. I should do some time. But I am going to make sure First Order goes down hard, Snoke in particular. His hands are all over this stuff. He's an arrogant prick who rarely bothered to hide anything. And by the way, one of the files? Has proof that you weren't Hux's first victim. He killed people for Snoke. I have the records of payments and instructions. He can kiss parole good-bye, and he'll be in for a hell of a lot more than five fucking years. With luck, the only light of day that – " Ben pauses, appearing to look for the right descriptor.

In unison, without missing a beat, Rey and Poe say, "Piece of shit?"

For the first time in a while, Ben cracks a small smile. "Yes. The only light of day that piece of shit will ever see again will be in a prison yard." Tears come to Ben's eyes, shocking Poe and, judging from her face, shocking Rey too. "I'm sorry, Rey, for that night before dinner. I'd just found Phasma that morning. I was a wreck, and I was drunk. But that's no excuse. I'm so sorry I scared you like that. If your flyboy here had ripped me limb from limb," he looks at Poe, "And I know you wanted to," he looks back at Rey, "It would have been deserved."

"You're forgiven, Ben. But don't ever do something like that to anyone – not just me, but anyone – again." Rey's eyes are strong, and Poe feels of a surge of affection for her that requires him to push down the urge to hug her.

Poe stands. "Han, can you help me get the stuff from Ben's car?"

Rey holds out her hand to Poe, and he takes it, pulling her to her feet. "I'll come with you." She glances at Leia, and Poe immediately understands that she is trying to give them a moment. Leia clearly does too, as she gives them both a nod as they leave with Han, Chewie and Bee trotting along behind them.

X

As they go outside, Rey's head is spinning. Han is quiet, and Poe is too. "Poe, maybe go let Kes know what's going on? Dad and I can manage the boxes."

Poe looks like he's going to argue, but then he softens and nods. "OK. He may want to come over – maybe he and I can dig through the kitchen and make dinner for everyone."

Han grips Poe's shoulder, squeezing gently. "We'd appreciate that, kid."

"All right. I'll be back soon." He leans over and gives Rey a quick kiss on the temple and nods to Han before heading for the garage apartment, calling the dogs to follow him.

Rey turns to Han. Without saying anything, she steps towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist. After tensing for a moment, Han hugs her tight to him. "Are you OK, Dad?"

"You're asking me?" Han leans away. "Shouldn't I be asking you?"

Rey releases Han and goes to sit on the front steps of the house. She shakes her head. "Dad, why are you and Mom so surprised that Poe and I aren't falling apart?"

Han sits next to her. "Little One, you and Poe have both dealt with a lot in the last several years, and honestly in the years before that. Neither of you has had an easy road."

"Maybe, though, Dad, you could focus on the notion that the shit we've been through has made us tougher. We both struggle, Dad. We may always struggle. But we're both resilient. And honestly, Dad, knowing that Hux literally set out to hurt me makes me feel better. I was a target. It was a specific, concerted effort to do harm. Maybe it's a distinction without a difference, but it changes things for me." She shrugs. "No matter what, I refuse to allow what happened to have any power over me."

Han bumps her knee with his. "I'm really proud of you, Little One. And, for what it's worth, despite how fast it happened, I approve of you and Poe. You two kind of remind me of me and Leia when we were young. He's a good man, Rey."

"Takes one to know one, Dad." She grins at him, and he scoffs in response. "I love you, Dad. And I hope that whatever happens with Ben is something we can all rebuild and move on from, you know? Even Ben."

"He really treated you like shit, didn't he?" Han frowns. "I know you hung out with me and Luke a lot, especially when Leia had to travel. I never gave it much thought as to why, but you were hiding from Ben, weren't you? He never came to my garage or went to the library."

Rey sighs. "Yeah, Dad, he did. It's OK, or at least it's between me and Ben. You've got enough already, and I'm a grown woman. If I need to settle something with Ben, I'll settle it myself. Poe's a big boy, too. He's fine. Let it go. Just focus on what Ben has to do now and how we can help him."

"All right, Little One. For the record, you're too damned nice to him." Han hugs her to his side.

"I know." Rey stands up, and taking his hand, she hauls Han to his feet. They head to Ben's car and unload two large banker's boxes of documents, carrying them into the house. They take the boxes into Han's study, pausing to peer into the living room. Leia is talking softly to Ben, who is back to sitting with his head in his hands.

Rey and Han exchange a look, and Han motions towards the kitchen with his head. Rey nods, following him. As they walk in, Poe and Kes enter through the kitchen door, Bee and Chewie shooting in ahead of them. Kes walks over to Han, clapping a hand on his shoulder, and the two men exchange a look that Rey can tell speaks volumes. The two then head to the liquor cabinet.

Rey goes to Poe, who is poking around in the pantry. She murmurs, "Behind you," and she slips her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder.

He turns and wraps his arms around her, asking quietly, "Is Han OK?"

"As OK as he can be." She tucks her face into his neck. "Anything in here that we can cook?"

Han's voice breaks in. "Let's just order some pizzas."

Rey pulls back from Poe. "Dad, are you sure? I think we can probably throw something together."

He nods. "Definitely sure. I do think there is stuff for a salad in the fridge. Let's just do that and pizza."

Han heads to the phone, and as he orders the pizzas, Poe goes to the refrigerator and starts pulling out things to make a big salad. Kes approaches Rey. "Anything I can do for you all, Mija?" She goes to him, and he enfolds her in a hug.

"We're OK, Kes. Mum and Dad are both going to need some support, though," she replies softly, "I'm glad you're here, you know?"

"I am too, Little One." He releases her, and she wanders over to help Poe with the salad. They all look up a moment later when Leia and Ben enter.

Leia clears her throat a little. "FBI from New York will be here first thing tomorrow, but given the potential sensitivity of the documents we have here, they're also sending some Field Agents from the New Haven office here to keep an eye on things." She turns to look at Poe and Rey. "Two of them are going to follow you home, stay there, and then follow you to school in the morning. After we meet with the New York Agents, they'll decide if continuing coverage is needed."

Rey knows she looks alarmed, and Poe frowns, saying, "Leia, is that really necessary?"

Ben answers for her. "Yes. He knows who you are and where you live, Poe. He may even know that Rey lives there, too. Until we're sure it's safe, please accept the protection."

Rey feels her eyes widen, and she moves closer to Poe, slipping her hand into his. He looks at her, and despite how skeptical he looks, he nods. "OK, Ben. But we can't have them following us around campus unless we let the campus police know."

Ben frowns. "Can you do that?"

Rey squeezes Poe's hand, and he nods again. She feels better with the protection, but the more important piece to her is that she wants Leia, Han, and Kes to feel more at ease. She speaks for them this time. "We can call them tonight."

"But they stay with Rey on campus." Poe sounds firm, and it irritates Rey a little. Before she can argue, he holds up a hand. "Rey, they've already hurt you once. I'll be damned if they get to you again."

"I'm with the pilot on this one," Ben agrees, "Little sister, they have made it clear that they have no problem hurting you. I also have the sneaking suspicion that bad knee or not, the Captain here can handle himself."

Rey furrows her brow. "And I can't. Got it." She releases Poe's hand and walks to the door, calling the dogs and going outside.

X

As Rey leaves, Poe rakes his hand through his hair, sighing. Leia drawls, "Well, that went well." Poe gives her a withering look while Kes and Han both snort.

"I'll be back in a minute," Poe ignores Leia's smirk, "Dad, can you finish the salad?"

Kes comes over. "Sure, kid."

"She needs the protection, hurt feelings or not." Ben shrugs. "She'll get over it."

"Really, Ben?" Poe shakes his head. "No wonder you two don't get along."

Without another word, Poe follows Rey outside. She's just a little ways off of the porch, watching Chewie and Bee chase each other around the yard, arms wrapped protectively around her waist. As he approaches, she growls, "Leave me alone, Poe." She doesn't even look at him.

"No can do, Sunshine." Poe shakes his head as he gets to her. "You read a lot into words that weren't even mine." Rey starts to argue, but Poe stops her. "I never said that you can't handle yourself, and honestly, it's not about that."

She blinks and continues to frown. "Then what exactly is it about?"

"Rey," he takes a deep breath, "They are a hell of a lot more likely to target you than me. They will assume that you are vulnerable just because you're a woman. And to tell the truth, yes, I can probably handle myself better in this," Rey looks at him sharply, but he won't be deterred. "Rey, I spent ten years active duty in the Air Force. I did actually get trained to handle myself. Luke and I even spar now and then."

That clearly distracts her. "You do?"

Poe shrugs. "Yeah. I think it helps both of us. I'll also confess that my real instinct is for us to get the hell out of here. If nothing else, I need to know you're safe."

"You think I don't need to know that about you?" Rey looks frustrated with him, but he needs her to understand.

"I never said that." He shakes his head. "But you know, for me, this is a complex issue. I'm not demeaning you or insulting you when I say that I am better trained to defend myself than you are, and I am trying my best to quell my overwhelming need to make everyone I love safe all the time. I know that it's somewhat irrational, but I need you to be willing to occasionally meet me halfway. Please, Rey, God, please."

"I don't like it when people act like I'm helpless and weak, Poe, because it makes me actually feel helpless and weak." She sniffles a little.

"Rey, you may be a million things, but helpless and weak you are not. Leaving my emotional shit out of this, tactically, you are the clearer target. It's that simple. As much as Leia and Han care about me, you are their daughter. You are the bigger soft spot for them. Between that and the fact that I do have training that you don't, it's what makes sense." Her expression doesn't improve, and he's beside himself. He feels like he's messing this up, but he doesn't know what else he can say, leaving him feeling like the helpless one.

He rakes his hand through his hair again, and to his extreme dismay, he feels his breath shallowing out, his heart rate increasing, and his hands starting to shake, the edges of a panic attack approaching. He turns abruptly, going to the porch steps and lowering himself onto them. He braces his hands on the edge of the step he sits on, closing his eyes, rocking back and forth slightly, and trying to push down the wave of anxiety that's overwhelming him.

Rey must realize that something is wrong, because she follows him and sits right next to him. "Poe?" She asks quietly, all the irritation gone from her voice.

At the same time, he hears a door open and close, and his dad's voice saying, "Mijo?"

He wants to respond, but it's taking everything he has to just stay focused on his breathing. Images are screaming through his head – Rey hurt, lying in a hospital bed; Jess's truck exploding; Leia's plane crashing; his mom dying; all of his nightmares bubbling up. He keeps rocking, oblivious to everything except the images in his head and his pulse pounding in his ears. He has no idea how long it is before he hears a rough voice. "Captain, breathe through it. Deep breaths. In and out. In and out. Everyone is safe. Rey is safe."

The voice keeps saying the same words over and over, and eventually, Poe is able to get a few deep breaths of air, clearing some of the irrational fear away. He forces himself to open his eyes, and he is surprised but also not surprised to see Luke crouched in front of him. "You OK, kid?"

Poe doesn't trust his voice yet, but he shakes his head. The panic is abating, but it's still there. He sees Luke look to Poe's left and beckon with his head and then to the right and doing the same. A moment later, he feels a light touch on his back and a hand wrap around one of his. He realizes that Rey is next to him on the step, holding his hand, and Kes is on his other side rubbing his back between his shoulders.

"Just keep breathing, kid," Luke repeats, "Just keep breathing."

Another moment or two, and Poe feels his heart rate begin to return to normal. His breathing evens out, and he's able to take a few deep breaths. He closes his eyes again, but this time it's more voluntary. He swallows hard. "Thanks, Luke." His voice is rough, strained, but at least he's regaining his emotional footing. Bee comes up and rests his snout on Poe's leg. Bee isn't a therapy dog or a service dog, but he's smart as hell and can clearly tell something is wrong.

Luke keeps his eyes on Poe. "How long has it been since you last had one of these?"

Swallowing again and opening his eyes, Poe says, "Almost two years."

Nodding, Luke stands. "No wonder it hit you hard."

Kes's voice comes in. "What just happened?"

After getting a nod from Poe, Luke explains, "Mr. Dameron, your son has PTSD. He gets panic attacks sometimes. It appears that whatever is going on today triggered something."

Kes sighs. "Color me surprised."

Poe turns his head, finally feeling like he can move again (in a way other than rocking back and forth), and he looks at Rey. She is pale and looks terrified. He squeezes her hand and without taking his eyes from her, he says, "Dad, Luke, can you give us a minute?"

When he hears his dad start to protest, he does look away from Rey for a moment, peering up at Kes. "Dad, I promise we'll talk, OK?"

"Are you all right now?" Kes's eyes are so worried that Poe feels guilt like a punch to his gut.

"Yeah, I'm all right. Not great, but all right." He reaches out his free hand, and Kes takes it, leaning down and giving Poe a half-hug.

"I'll be right inside the kitchen, Mijo."

"Thanks, Dad." He lets go of his dad's and and nods to Luke. "Thank you again."

"Anytime, kid." He squeezes Poe's shoulder. "I've been there, as you well know."

The two older men go inside with Chewie, leaving him and Rey alone with Bee, who moved closer to Poe when Kes tried to coax him inside. Once the door closes, in a soft voice, Poe says, "I'm sorry, Sunshine."

"For what?" Rey sounds surprised, and when he looks at her, her eyes are clouded with confusion.

"For scaring you. I didn't warn you about them because I hadn't had one for two years. I was hoping those days were over." Poe sighs.

"Did they used to happen a lot?" Rey furrows her brow and scoots closer to him.

"Yes. I had one or two after Jess, but after my knee, I started having them a few times a week, and on a bad week, I'd have them daily." He closes his eyes at the memory of that time. "Part of why Leia and Han had me move in here is that they didn't think I needed to be on my own yet, and my therapist agreed." He cringes. "Please don't tell Dad that. He won't understand why here was better for me."

"Why was it, Poe? Your connection to your mom aside, what made it easier to be here?" She presses the question gently.

"I didn't really do well flying for a while, you know? For the flights from Afghanistan to Germany and from Germany to Maryland to get to Walter Reed, I was sedated due to the pain. I was able to get here by car. Leia came to get me. To get to San Antonio, it would have been too far for me, and I couldn't get on a plane then. I know that's stupid." He shifts. "It took time. Almost a year after I was shot down, I started by working on Mom's plane. Leia had stored it all those years, and Han kept it in decent shape, but we rebuilt the engine. It was great therapy. But I didn't fly it for a long time. Once I got over the hump, got back in the air, it was mostly OK. But the first time I even saw Mom's plane, I had an attack way worse than the one you just saw."

"How long did it take?" She leans into him, squeezing his hand.

"Months, and it was baby steps. Luke would go up with me so I could let him take over if I fell apart. I eventually stopped falling apart." He turns his head and presses a kiss to her temple. "But honestly, after the first jet test flight I did for Dr. A, I had to go home and take a Xanax. I haven't had to do that in almost two years, though."

"Since your last attack?"

"Yeah. One of Dr. A's designs, an early one, didn't work. At all. I had to emergency land it at an airfield smaller than Rose's. I ended up hospitalized because I dislocated my shoulder in the landing – that's a story for another day – but I was there overnight, and I had a nightmare that made me spiral badly." He sighs again. "That was a really shitty few days."

"I hate hospitals." She grumbles.

He chuckles. "Me too."

"Can I ask you something?" She sounds unsure.

"You can ask me anything, Rey." He pulls his hand free from hers and wraps his arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side.

She wraps her arms around his waist. "Do you still have to take meds?"

He shakes his head. "No. I haven't in over eighteen months, and before that, it was only situational. I only was on a regular anti-anxiety med for about six months."

"What do you think Snoke knew about it?" She's honestly puzzled.

He shrugs. "There wasn't much to know. I was on a really low dose of Lexapro. Not exactly scandalous. And as soon as I could manage without it, my doc weaned me off of it. I also took very little in the way of painkillers, even after my surgeries. I didn't like how disconnected they made me feel," he pauses, "But Luke is another story – one I'll let him tell for the most part, but suffice to say that he's still on meds, probably always will be."

After a moment, she blurts out, "I was on Prozac for almost a year after Hux."

"Not surprised, Sunshine." He kisses the top of her head.

They sit there in silence for a few minutes before Rey burrows even closer to him. "I'm sorry, Flyboy, for getting so irritated about the agents sticking with me on campus. Once you explained, I should have backed down – your explanation was entirely reasonable. Ben just can make me so mad, and I let him. And even he was just being Ben. It's how he is."

"Rey, if you're taking accountability for me having a panic attack, stop. It's not your fault. I told you I have PTSD – I should have warned you about this." He rubs her side gently. "And you were upset. You being upset but not yielding made me feel out of control and afraid for you, but I didn't make it clear right away before you came out here. It was a domino effect, and it was not your fault. Shit happens sometimes, Sunshine."

She snorts. They go quiet again. He feels all the tension drain out of him. Eventually, she says, "I know we should stay a while, but as soon as the Field Agents get here, can we go home? I really want to go home."

X

Half an hour later, they leave Leia and Han's. Poe is driving, now settled back down. She sits in the passenger seat of the Porsche, Bee curled on her lap with his head on the armrest. They tried to get him to ride with the FBI agents in the car behind them, but Bee wouldn't get in their car. Eventually, they gave up and let him ride on Rey. Rey watches Poe carefully, but he's clearly fine. She can also smell pizza from the trunk, and she can't wait to dig into it with a glass of wine.

"How bad do you think this will be for Ben?" She asks the question in a quiet voice.

He reaches over and scratches Bee's head. "I don't know. As much as I know he deserves some quality time in prison, I hope it's in Minimum Security, and I hope he gets credit for turning Snoke and First Order in."

"Me too, if only for Leia and Han's sake." Rey yawns, looking at her watch. "God, it's not even that late, but I'm exhausted."

"Same here, Sunshine. Let's walk Bee when we get home and then retreat to the bedroom with pizza and booze." He lifts an eyebrow at her.

"Works for me. We can let the agents use the guest room." The Field Agents told them that one would sleep while the other would keep an eye on things. Before they left Leia and Han's, Poe put in the call to the campus police, telling them with little detail about them having protection with them tomorrow. The only thing they need to do is have the two agents check in with the campus police in the morning.

When they get home, once they grab a bottle of wine and the agents declined any pizza, they do as they'd planned, retreating to the bedroom. They forgo plates and glasses, just putting the pizza box on the bed and passing the wine bottle back and forth, drinking from it directly. Rey comments that it's like being an undergraduate again, making him laugh and say, "I went to the Air Force Academy, Sunshine. I'm guessing that was a little different from your experience."

When they finish the pizza, they both get ready for bed. By the time Rey emerges from the bathroom after washing her face and brushing her teeth, she's clad only in one of his t-shirts. She smiles at the sight of Poe. He's sitting up in bed, hair falling into his eyes and shirtless – she'd watched him leave the bathroom in just a pair of sleep pants after she stole his t-shirt – and he's sound asleep. He has his knees pulled up a little, his iPad in his lap and Bee on his feet, and she realizes that this being her life makes her almost unaccountably happy.

She turns off the bathroom light, leaving the room softly illuminated by the small lamps on each nightstand. She goes to his side of the bed, shooing Bee down to the end of it. She turns off his lamp and takes his tablet, putting it on the nightstand. She presses a kiss to his temple, making him startle awake. "Slide down, Flyboy," she softly orders.

He blinks a few times before complying as he mutters, "Bossy."

She laughs and goes to her own side of the bed, slipping under the covers and turning off the light. She immediately moves toward him, and he pulls her close. Sleepy as he is, he still presses a kiss to her lips, the kiss deep and firm. When he pulls back, he mumbles, "Love you, Sunshine."

She snuggles into him, letting him wrap around her. "Love you too, Flyboy."

He goes back to sleep almost immediately – it occurs to her that the panic attack probably drained a lot of his energy, both physical and emotional – but she is still fairly awake. The events of this very strange, very long day replaying in her head. She can feel Poe's heartbeat and even breathing against her, helping her relax into a near-doze. She tries to imagine getting through this day without having him there next to her, and she can't picture it.

While it's nice that he makes her feel safe, today it was so much more than that. Today he made her feel respected and supported. Even when she got angry, he just followed her, trying to reason with her, never ordering or commanding, wanting her not just safe but also comfortable.

Watching him have the panic attack had scared the hell out of her, but in a weird way, it also helped her understand, maybe even more that his nightmares do, that she needs to be careful with him just like he is with her. She thinks back to what he said right before the panic attack – sometimes he needs her to meet him halfway.

That thought makes her flush a little, shame flooding her chest. She knows that he said the panic attack wasn't her fault, and she does get that it wasn't. On the other hand, even when he was getting freaked out, he didn't try to force her on the issue. A wave of affection edges out the shame.

She loves that he said that he 'occasionally' needs her to meet him halfway – to many, that might be a minor distinction, but to her, it tells her that he has no interest in controlling her. She nuzzles her face into his neck, sighing as sleep finally begins to overtake her. The last thought that pings through her head is that this is it for her. He is it for her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Bonus chapter, two in a few days! Thank my six-year-old, who gave mommy a break as a Mother's Day gift! Shorter than usual (but still 4500+ words), but it was the right length for what this chapter needed to tell!**

 **Sorry for another time skip – closing in on a conclusion for this fic. There is some minor drama and angst, then some more salty language, then unrepentant fluff.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Rey blinks her eyes open, only to realize that it's still dark out. She grumbles, peering at the clock. It reads four in the morning, and she growls a little in disapproval before snuggling back down against Poe, her back to his front. They'd left the sliding-glass door cracked last night, and she can hear the sound of the ocean hitting the shore below the room they currently occupy. It's wonderfully soothing, and while she doesn't go back to sleep, her mind starts to wander.

Over two-and-a-half months have passed since Ben spilled everything to them about First Order. Ben is in a safe house in upstate New York, and once all of the leaders of First Order are prosecuted, he'll do eighteen months in a minimum-security prison followed by ten years probation and a permanent ban from any work requiring Securities filings. He already told Rey he plans to go back to school when he gets out, but that he isn't sure what he'll study. He has become oddly social and even dependent on her and on Han. Leia is his rock emotionally, but Rey and Han are becoming his practical guideposts.

Snoke is being held without bond given the nature of his crimes and the fact that he's a flight risk. Multiple members of the First Order leadership started singing like damned canaries after Ben stepped forward, and the company has completely imploded. Leia had to spend some time on the morning news shows, and she also testified on Capitol Hill last month, as did Senator West, who also retired after what happened with his daughter.

Rey and Poe have stayed as far from the fray as possible, concentrating on work and on their growing relationship. Kes even moved back over to Poe's house last month because of the press at Leia and Han's house. Rey feels bad, because even Finn and Rose get press lurking around the airfield.

The University has been patient. Poe is already a highly regarded professor, both by students and by the academic community, and she is on a similar trajectory career-wise. Given the nature of what has become more public about both of them, the school has actually been vocally supportive of them, both of Poe as a Veteran and her as a survivor of domestic violence. She was even just invited to come speak at an event for a women's shelter in New York. The support from the school has also extended to Luke in his role as Librarian, though he is thinking about retiring.

One thing they did find out to be based entirely on rumors was the stuff about Poe and Jess – there was no report and no word about it anywhere. One person from the base, a name they found in all of the documents, was an Airman at the base in Afghanistan. He was supplying information to Snoke, and he's also in jail awaiting sentencing after a plea.

At Kes's suggestion, one that Luke heavily endorsed, they've also started going to see Poe's therapist together, mainly to help them understand each other's needs, cues, and coping mechanisms. In truth, her fainting spell and then his panic attack she witnessed helped her understand just how much they're both still struggling, no matter how outwardly calm and steady they both seem most of the time.

She smiles as her mind turns to Kes. After years of refusing to return to Connecticut, he now doesn't want to leave. His house in Boerne, a small town northwest of San Antonio, sold within a week of going on the market. He plans to start house hunting soon, looking for something near Poe's house. Unbeknownst to Kes, though, Poe has been talking to his neighbor, who has six acres of land. Poe is trying to by about half an acre of that adjoining Poe's property, and he wants to get Kes to just build there instead of buying something.

She jumps slightly, pulled from her thoughts by Poe's arms tightening around her midsection. "God, why are you awake, Sunshine?"

"That sounds like my line. And Poe, it's four here, but it's seven at home." She rolls over in his arms. "I'm sorry I woke you up, though."

"Are you OK?" His voice is worried.

She leans in, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I'm fine, I promise. Maybe a little anxious about tomorrow, but fine."

He brushes he hair back, peering at her in the dim light from outside their room at the Malibu Beach Inn, a hotel right on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Finals ended yesterday morning, and they hopped on a plane by midday, both with a big stack of exams to start grading on the plane and to finish this afternoon. They'll be here five days – they have some business to attend to tomorrow, but the other few days will be for her to show him around before they head back to New England for Christmas.

"I really hope I keep it together, Sunshine," he pauses, "I imagine tearing his head off would be frowned upon by the Feds."

"You will. He's not worth you getting into trouble, and it will be nice to see his face when they read him the new charges against him." Rey sighs.

Their main business here is something she fought for. They reached an agreement with the Federal prosecutor, an agreement that she, with Poe there for support, could be there when Hux is told of the laundry list of charges against him, charges that will likely result in him spending the rest of his life in a Federal prison, if not on Death Row. The man killed people for Snoke, and the money, abductions, and violence spread well across multiple states; he'll also be charged with racketeering and with insider trading. He will likely not see freedom ever again.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to that." He presses a kiss to her forehead, and she snuggles into him.

They go quiet then, just listening to the sound of the waves. After a while, he says, "OK, do you think they'd just let us live here?"

She laughs. "This is really one of the best hotels ever. Mum and Dad always stay here when they come to LA even though it's inconvenient in some ways."

Nodding, he asks, "So, we're both wide awake at four in the morning. The restaurant doesn't even open for breakfast until seven. Should we get up and start grading again?"

"Or," she begins, rolling them so that he's on his back with her straddling him, "We could, you know, do something else."

She leans down, bracing her hands on either side of his head and kissing him as she grinds her hips down into his. He responds immediately, one hand sliding down to grip her rear as he presses upwards with his hips, the other going into her hair, pulling her down to him. He breaks the kiss and begins to work his way down her neck with his lips, teeth, and tongue, making her gasp out his name in a breathy voice. He chuckles against her skin, mumbling, "Yeah, I definitely vote for something else."

X

Early the following morning, they're getting dressed for the drive up to the prison in Lancaster, where Rey will see Hux for the first time since he put her in the hospital. Poe is keeping a close eye on her – she is buzzing with nervous tension, and he knows her emotions are boiling up very close to the surface. He's surprised to realize that his own emotions are actually very much under control, maybe because he knows that's what she needs right now.

He finishes before her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before going out onto the balcony of their room – the cost of it covered by Leia as a Christmas gift – and looks out at the Pacific with a cup of coffee in hand. He's dressed as he does for class, jeans and a dress shirt, but it's cool today, so he has a well-worn leather jacket with him too. He sighs. This is going to be a long day, but he knows it's important to Rey.

At least they had a quiet day yesterday. After their morning romp in the bed, followed by some more sleep and then a shower together, they'd gone down to the restaurant for breakfast and spent the rest of the day trying to plow through all of the grading they needed to do. Their room has a fireplace, so Rey had insisted that he could keep the door open to the breeze, just wrapping herself in a blanket and parking herself in front of the fire while he set up at the desk in the room. They'd only stopped long enough to wander out for lunch and dinner, but they'd finished all that they needed to finish, giving them freedom for the rest of their time here, almost three full days before they hop a red-eye back to New York.

After adding something to the chain with his mom's ring on it, he leans forward on the rail on is forearms, looking out at the water. This place is truly breathtaking. Like Rey, he gets energy from the water. It's not as endless as the sky, but for him, it's a decent close second. They have their wetsuits with them, and, if the weather cooperates, they're going to go kayaking tomorrow, at a place Rey used to go when she lived here.

He hears footsteps from the room, and a moment later she's pressed to his back, her arms going around his waist. He turns in her arms, pulling her close. "You ready for this, Sunshine?" She tucks her face into his neck for a moment.

She quietly responds, "We'll find out when we get there. Ready or not, I need to do this." She looks up at him, stepping back.

His eyes roam over her for a moment. She's wearing a dark green long-sleeved tunic dress with black leggings and ankle boots. The color of her dress brings out flecks of gold in her eyes, and he loves that while she put on a little make-up, her freckles are still visible. "You look beautiful, Sunshine."

She gives him a weak smile. "Thank you."

"You can do this, you know? You can do this." He cups her cheek in his palm. "You are so strong and brave, Rey."

She leans in again, this time kissing him. When she pulls back, she brushes some hair out of his eyes. "Four months ago, I don't think I'd have been able to do this." He starts to argue, but she doesn't let him. "You've given me solid ground, Poe. Ironic, given your preference for being airborne." He snorts at that, and she goes on, "I've spent most of my life feeling vaguely transient, even with Leia and Han. From the moment I said I was staying until you kicked me out and you replied that you weren't going to kick me out? I've felt grounded, secure. And it's not that you let me in – it's that you wanted me there and that I wanted to be there."

He nods. "I get that. I was blown away that you wanted to be there instead of at Han and Leia's house, so I'd say we're a fairly well-matched set of screaming insecurity." He's mostly teasing, but he knows they both struggle with feeling sure-footed. His is more about feeling like a failure, hers more about feeling unlovable. That's one of the things they've talked about with the therapist. It helps immensely to have a neutral party to use as a sounding board. Dr. Kalonia, who he's known for a while now, has taken them on as a couple, and it has been great for both of them.

As she smirks at him, clearly amused, his phone pings. He pulls it out and looks at it. "Agents are downstairs to take us to Lancaster."

She takes a deep breath and heads inside, picking up her small crossbody bag and a patterned shawl that matches her dress. He grabs his jacket and a day pack, and they head downstairs.

In the nondescript black Tahoe SUV that takes them to the prison, they chat quietly with the FBI Agent driving the car and the Federal prosecutor who sits in the front seat. Poe holds tight to Rey's hand, stroking his thumb over the back of it the whole way. Rey already gave a statement in the case against Hux – he can't be re-tried for what he did to her specifically, but it's of interest to the prosecutor.

The deal is simply that Rey can watch the live feed of the meeting between Hux, his lawyer, and the prosecutor and that she will then get five minutes to confront him directly. Hux, via his lawyer, agreed to it. Word came to Rey via the prosecutor that Hux doesn't believe that she'll have the courage to show up. The prosecutor thinks that Hux is convinced that he'll get off and be free on parole this time next year; also per the prosecutor, Hux doesn't seem to believe the strength of the evidence against him.

Poe is also paying close attention to his own emotional state. The FBI Agent will follow Rey into the room with Hux, hanging back but being close enough that she'll be protected. He just has to keep reminding himself of that. "Hey." Rey's voice pulls him out of his own head.

"Hey, Sunshine." He blinks a few times before focusing his eyes on her.

"You with me?" She seems concerned – when he goes quiet, he knows it worries her a little after seeing his mostly-silent panic attack. He's glad he hasn't had one since, not only because they are just miserable to go through, but also because they scare the shit out of Rey.

He leans over and kisses her. "Yes. I'm with you. Sorry, was just thinking."

"I knew it smelled like something was burning," she teases him.

He laughs and shakes his head. "Now, with the jokes?"

She shrugs. "Feels like good timing to me."

"Yeah, I guess it is. I love you." He lifts their joined hands, pressing a kiss to the back of hers.

She mimics the gesture, kissing the back of his hand. "I love you, too."

X

After a drive that took over ninety minutes, going up and over the San Gabriel Mountains, they arrive at the prison. The landscape is fairly stark, with mountains and hills to the southwest and north, and relatively arid terrain. Rey remembers reading that it's hot as hell in the summer, and, especially for southern California, cool or cold in the winter.

It's in the 50s today, and Rey is glad to have worn a long-sleeved dress and her shawl. Even so, when they get out, she shivers, apparently obviously, as Poe leans into her and murmurs, "Tell me if you need my jacket."

She nods her thanks, taking his hand. He leaves his day pack in the car, just bringing in his phone and his wallet with one credit card and his IDs, including his retired military ID and documentation about the sheer volume of metal in his body. She has her small bag, but again, it just has her wallet with minimal contents, her phone, and a lip gloss and comb. When they get inside, they're all checked in at the desk.

Once they have been cleared, they have to leave their belongings other than the paperwork carried by the prosecutor. The FBI Agent also has to go through defined steps due to his firearm. Poe warns them that he's going to light their metal detectors up like a Christmas tree, and they scoff until they read the documentation from his wallet. One of the guards comes to attention, a man who was formerly Military Police in the Air Force. From that point forward, he goes from being Mr. Dameron (neither he nor Rey bother to correct the honorific) to Captain Dameron.

As Rey goes through the detectors, they give Poe an envelope for his wallet, watch, and necklace. She turns as he slips the necklace into the envelope, and she thinks that it seems shinier than usual, but she's too preoccupied to spend too much mental energy on it. As promised, the metal detectors scream out a warning when Poe steps through, and they have to wand him. The wand is normal until they pass it over his right knee, and even Rey is surprised by how far the metal must extend. The guard breathes out, "Damn, sir!" Poe just shrugs. He's used to it by now.

They then follow two guards and the Assistant Warden to the observation room, and the prosecutor gives them a nod as he separates from them. They step into a room with video observation equipment, and Poe stands tight to Rey's side, one arm slung loose and low across her back. She pulls in on herself, staring at the empty chair in the meeting room. The prosecutor enters, taking a seat but leaving the chairs facing the main camera empty.

Her breathing starts getting short, and her heart rate picks up. Poe must notice, because he leans into her and says softly, "Breathe through it, Sunshine. You're safe. I'm here, nothing is going to happen to you. Just breathe."

She nods, trying her best to take long, slow breaths. A moment later, the door opens, and she gasps. Armitage was slight and pale before, but now, he's bony and sallow. His red hair is as red as always, but it's dull and messy. He has a scowl on his face, and it turns to an arrogant sneer when he looks the prosecutor up and down before dropping into a chair. It's that sneer that makes her shrink closer to Poe's side, his arm moving around her waist. She links her own hand with the hand of his arm that's holding her close.

Another man, clearly Hux's attorney, sits next to Hux, and a guard stands inside the door. Hux hisses, "Talk, Fed. I've got things to do."

"Oh, Mr. Hux, I'm quite certain you'll want to hear this." The prosecutor, who they can only see on a secondary camera, gives Hux a near-feral smile. The man then launches into the litany of charges being brought against Hux, and Hux, if possible, goes even paler. His attorney urges him not to say anything. The prosecutor finishes, noting the significant volume of evidence they have, and also noting that they have witnesses. "Mr. Hux, we'll be contacting you about a plea, but I have to tell you, we won't give much ground. Your record and the evidence say that you'll never see the light of day again."

After a beat, the prosecutor asks, "Do you have anything to say, Mr. Hux?"

Under his veil of fear, Hux tries to act tough again. His sneer returns. "The chickenshit bitch didn't show, did she?"

Poe tenses next to her, but she suddenly realizes something. The man in that room has no power over her – not anymore. She looks at Poe. "He's not worth it, Flyboy."

Poe nods, but she can see hatred burning in his normally soft, caring brown gaze. "Agreed. But I'd still love to rip his head off with my bare hands." His free hand curls into a fist.

In the room, the prosecutor goes feral again. "Wrong, Mr. Hux." He turns and motions to the room.

The Assistant Warden and the FBI Agent nod to Rey, the Agent following her as planned. Poe stays in the room with the Assistant Warden. There is a guard outside their observation room, and he leads Rey to the door, the Agent close behind her. As the door opens, the prosecutor and Hux's lawyer both stand, but Hux, at the direction of the guard, stays seated.

She stares at him for a moment, and then she shakes her head. Where she expected to feel anxiety or fear or maybe even anger, all she feels is disdain. It flows through her, and she actually gives a sardonic laugh. "You look like shit."

His eyes cloud with anger, and he starts to stand. The guard who came with Rey, the retired MP, pushes Hux back down. Rey glares at him. "You need to know, Armitage, that in a moment I will walk out of here, and I will never think about you again. You nearly killed me. You nearly took everything from me, all for a fucking business. You will rot in Federal prison for the rest of your miserable life, and Reginald Snoke will too. I have spent the last few days wondering what I was going to say to you, and the right words just came to me. Fuck off and enjoy prison, you pathetic, preening piece of shit. You are not worth my time or my thoughts."

With that, Rey spins on her heel and leaves. She hears him sputtering angrily in her wake, but she realizes that she simply doesn't care. Poe and the Assistant Warden step out of the observation room, and she walks into his arms, leaning into him and pressing a kiss to his lips. She pulls back, and he hugs her tight to him, murmuring, "I am so goddamned proud of you, Sunshine. And Leia and Han – and even Luke and Ben – will love this."

The prosecutor, guard, and FBI Agent follow her out, and she pulls back from Poe and looks at the Assistant Warden. "I'd like to leave now."

The man grins. "Yes ma'am."

The guards and the Warden lead them out, and when they get to the front to gather their things, the former Air Force MP looks at Rey and says, "I'll likely get in trouble for saying this, but well played, ma'am. That asshole is one of the most disliked inmates here, and not just because he abuses women. He's just a real prick."

Poe snorts. "Our preferred parlance is 'piece of shit.'"

Everyone else swallows a laugh as the guard says with a grin, "Of course, Captain. That fits too."

Rey returns the grin. "Right? It really is perfect."

The guard looks at her. "I'm glad you're all right, ma'am. Before your visit, I read his sheet in detail. My own father was an Armitage Hux. I can honestly say that I wish I was the one who broke his jaw."

Nodding, Rey motions to Poe. "I imagine you and Captain Dameron are aligned on that point."

With that, they thank the Assistant Warden and the guards, and they follow the prosecutor and FBI Agent out of the prison. As she walks, Rey feels like she's getting lighter and lighter with every step. She takes Poe's hand, entwining their fingers. "Thank you for being here with me, Flyboy."

"Anywhere you go, I'm going too, Sunshine." He squeezes her hand. "And I really am proud of you."

She squeezes back. "I'm proud of us, Poe. I'm proud of us."

X

Rey falls asleep against Poe on the way back to Malibu. She chooses to sit in the middle of the backseat, strapping in but leaning her head against his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her and stares out the window at the rugged terrain, knowing that there is something he has to do today. The FBI Agent and prosecutor talk quietly up front, and Poe just enjoys the feeling of Rey pressed against him.

As the SUV pulls into the circular drive at the hotel, Rey startles awake. Poe presses a kiss to her forehead. They bid good-bye to the Feds and climb out of the car. The prosecutor tells them he'll keep in touch, and they wave them off. Poe looks at her with a smile. "More sleep or take a walk?"

She takes his hand. "Walk, if you're OK to do that."

"I am," he replies, "Come on, it's a short walk to the pier."

She goes with him, letting him lead, and they make the quick walk to the Malibu Pier from the hotel. Poe's heart is straight up rabbiting in his chest, and he just hopes that Rey can't tell. It's mid-afternoon by now, but because it's a weekday and chilly, there aren't too many people out on the pier.

When they get to the end, she sighs. "I love Connecticut, but I miss the Pacific." She turns and looks at him, and he must look off, because she frowns and says, "Poe, are you all right?"

He is appalled at himself, because after looking around to see if anyone is close by, he blurts out, "Rey, will you marry me?" She blinks a few times, and he guesses that he stunned her into silence. He pulls the chain from around his neck, and he pulls one of the two things hanging from it off. His mom's ring stays in place, as it will until the wedding (if she says yes, his brain unhelpfully supplies). He takes her right hand and places the small object in it.

She looks down at her hand, opening her palm and gasping. There's a ring there, one he spent the last two months shopping for. Tears come to her eyes. "Really?"

He nods. "Really. Rey, I've been mostly on my own for as long as I can remember. The last three-and-a-half months have been the best of my damned life. If we could do it tomorrow without having Leia and my dad kill us, I'd get in a car and drive us to Vegas."

She smiles, a tear sliding down her cheek. But then she laughs. "You're right. Dad wouldn't give a shit. But Mum and Kes would never forgive us."

"Is that a yes?" He grins, a sheen of tears coming to his own eyes.

"Well, it depends on the ring, you know?"

He can tell that she's teasing, but he takes the ring from her palm and slides it on to the ring finger of her left hand. She looks down at it and gasps again. The ring has an Art Deco look to it, an oval shaped diamond in a yellow gold setting, surrounded by emerald baguettes in a stylized shape on a white gold diamond pavé band. "I looked for that for the last two months. I hope you like it, Sunshine. A simple diamond didn't feel right to me for you."

She sniffles. "Oh my God, Poe, it's perfect." She smiles up at him. "And yes. That's a yes."

"Yes?" He cannot believe that she's actually saying yes. When she nods, he lets out a whoop and picks her up in a hug, spinning around with her in his arms. He then puts her down and captures her mouth in a searing kiss. She responds enthusiastically, and they only break apart when oxygen becomes a necessity.

When she catches her breath, she whispers, "Definitely a yes, but – "

He freezes. "But what?"

"Well, two things." She gives him an impish look. "First, I saw the thermostat set on sixty-six at the house. Unless you want to be bedding down with a Rey-sicle, that isn't going to work."

He groans. "How high?"

"Seventy."

"Hell, no. Sixty-eight during the day, sixty-seven at night." He lifts an eyebrow at her.

She appears to think about it. "Can I add an extra thermal blanket to the bed?"

"Yes."

"Sold."

"What is the second thing?" He is laughing now.

"Did you ask Dad first?" She grins up at him.

He blinks a few times, his laughter dying away immediately. Then, to the sound of her laughter, drops his head to her shoulder as he mutters, "Damn it, Han is going to kill me."

"Flyboy?" She says it softly, making him look up at her.

"Yeah, Sunshine?" He tries not to look to pained at the idea of talking to Han after the fact.

"It's still a yes." Her eyes go soft now, and she knows her smile is no longer teasing. "It would be a yes without the ring, with me frozen solid, and you never talking to Han. A thousand times, yes."

He kisses her again, and she smiles against his lips. When he pulls back, she says, grinning again. "But I get to be there when you tell Han you asked me without talking to him first. It's a barbaric, dated tradition, but it'll be fun to see how many colors he turns."

 **Note: I've never (no really) visited anyone in prison, so if I didn't get that stuff right, mea culpa. : ) I HAVE, however, stayed at the Malibu Beach Inn. It's FAB.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay – have been distracted by real life and an AU Cassian/Jyn WIP. Not too much left for this story, maybe one or two chapters. Updates will stay a little slow due to work and life and everything. Thanks to those who are hanging in there with me.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Rey yawns and stretches as their plane touches down in Newark. It was a five-hour red-eye flight from LAX, but that was made more manageable by the upgrade to first class that Han and Leia had done for them, another Christmas present. The flat-bed seats were amazing, especially nice for Poe's knee, letting him keep it extended and elevated. He stretches next to her. Almost as if he read her mind, he says, "Seriously, how can I ever not fly this way in the future?"

She laughs softly. "I know. They just created a couple of monsters."

They grab their carry-ons and head for baggage claim, Poe spotting the guy with a sign that says, "Dameron/Kenobi." Poe had been the one to spring for a car service – it was a small fortune for the round trip to their home in Connecticut, but he'd argued to her that it was worth it. It's not quite five in the morning here, and Rey agrees now. Even though they both slept a few hours on the flight, she's exhausted. She can see from the circles under his eyes that Poe is too.

Once they collect their suitcases, the driver takes the bags and they follow him out to the sedan waiting in the garage. They both settle in the backseat; Poe falls asleep first, and she follows quickly, her hand twined with his as she curls towards him in the seat.

Almost two-and-a-half hours later, she startles awake as they bump on to their driveway (she smiles, not sure when she started thinking of it as "theirs"), and she looks over at Poe. He's awake, and she realizes that his thumb is brushing over the ring she now wears on her left hand. Rey yawns. "How long have you been awake?"

"Only about half an hour. I slept all the way to New Haven." He smiles. "It's good to be home."

She nods, but then she shivers, looking out at the snow-covered yard. "Yeah, but I'm going to miss seventy degrees in December."

Chuckling, he agrees, "Can't argue with that."

The driver helps them move their bags to the porch, and Poe thanks him, slipping him a large tip and wishing him happy holidays. Rey looks around. The house and yard are quiet, but the driveway clear of snow courtesy of a service that Poe has. Rey peers at the snow in the area where Bee usually runs around, and she cocks her head.

Poe approaches. "What's up, Sunshine?"

She points. "That looks like more than just Bee."

His eyes go to where she indicated, and he blinks a few times. Just then, they hear wheels on the driveway, and they turn to see Kes's red jeep, with hard top in place, pull up in front of the garage. Kes gets out, and they both freeze in their wave when Bee jumps out of the Jeep and bounds towards them, two much smaller orange and white puffballs at his heels. Poe says, "What the hell?" while Rey just laughs. It's one of the cutest sights she's ever seen.

Bee gets to them first, throwing himself at Poe's legs. Rey sits on the steps, holding her arms out to the two puffballs. They immediately climb on her as well as their little legs allow, Rey giggling as they both try to lick her face. Kes arrives, a bag in hand that Rey can smell is full of food. Kes grins. "So, we all now know what Toller puppies look like."

Poe repeats his words from a moment ago, grinning this time. "What the hell, Dad?"

"Merry Christmas." Kes grins back. "The boy puppy," he indicates one of the pups, whose face is mostly orange, "Is mine. His name is Javi." He indicates the other one, who Rey is now holding and who has a broad, uneven streak of white all the way up her snout to her forehead, the rest of her head orange, "Is yours if you want her. Leia and Han have their brother, and they named him Porg." At their confused looks, Kes shrugs and says, "No idea."

Rey looks at the little girl puppy in her arms, then she looks up at Poe, who shrugs. "Yeah, yeah. So Bee has a baby sister now."

Rey squeaks happily and puts the puppy down, and she stands to kiss Poe, who laughs. "What should we call her, Sunshine?"

They both watch as Bee takes off. Javi hangs with Kes, but their little girl shoots after Bee like a rocket, chasing the larger dog all around the yard. After a moment of watching her zoom back and forth after Bee, Rey grins and looks at Poe. "Jet?"

######

Poe laughs. "Perfect." He looks at Kes as Rey goes into the snow with Jet and Bee, probably soaking her hiking boots. "So, three dogs here? And you thought this was a good idea why?" His smile belies the fact that he's not actually irked with Kes.

Kes snorts. "It was actually Leia's idea. She got a call from a breeder, the same one Bee came from. A family had planned to buy the three from the litter, but something happened – not sure what – and they weren't able to. So, puppies. Leia can be tough as nails except with regard to puppies, apparently."

Poe chuckles as he watches Rey with naked affection. "We all have our Kryptonite."

At Kes's laugh, Poe turns to look at his dad. Kes smirks. "I think I know what yours is. And is that a ring I see on her left hand?"

"Might be." Poe returns the smirk.

Kes bumps his shoulder into Poe's. "Well done, mijo." Turning serious, Kes asks, "How did it go?"

"She was amazing, Dad. She made it very clear what she thought of him – even told him to fuck off," Kes snorts again, this time in clear approval, and Poe goes on, "And she made it clear she'd never think of him again. I was so damned proud of her, Dad."

"And how did you do?" Kes looks at him knowingly.

Poe tries and fails to look apologetic. "I wanted to rip his head off with my bare hands." Poe shrugs. "But it was her moment. I had mine on the pier when we got back to Malibu."

"Excellent choice on location." Kes nods.

"We may go back for the honeymoon this summer. There and Catalina, maybe on down to Coronado." Poe grins. "We already picked a week at the end of June for that, booked the same hotel in Malibu, because holy crap."

"So, I guess we have some planning to do, then." Kes gives Poe a funny look. "Let Leia do it. She needs the distraction."

"How is she?" Poe sighs. He knows that the last several months have been hard for Leia.

"Can you take the dogs?" Rey is standing there, shivering, with a damp, squirmy puppy in her arms.

Kes gives her a gentle smile, taking the pup and putting her down. He opens the door and ushers them all in, the puppies and Bee collapsing in a pile on the gigantic new dog bed near the sofa. Rey slips back outside, though. A beautifully decorated Christmas tree sits in the corner, and Kes just says, "Leia," and goes to turn the lights on the tree on.

Smiling, Poe goes and lights the gas log in the fireplace, and Kes bumps the thermostat up. He keeps it cool like Poe does, but the dad in him clearly kicked in at the sight of his shivering future daughter-in-law.

Kes turns to help Poe get the bags inside, only to find Rey has already dragged them all in. She gapes at the beautiful tree, and she says, "Mum, right?"

Poe goes to her and kisses her temple. "Yeah. Let's change into warmer – and drier – clothes, and we can talk about it."

Kes nods, holding up the bag. "I have pancakes from Maz's. I just need to reheat them and make coffee."

Rey grins, running to Kes and kissing his cheek before dragging her suitcase to the bedroom. Kes smirks at Poe. "Think your girl likes me, kid."

"Nah, she likes pancakes." Poe just laughs and shakes his head. "We'll be out in a minute, Dad."

Fifteen minutes later, they're all sitting around the living room, Rey and Poe on the sofa with Kes in the chair, scarfing down warmed-up pancakes and fresh coffee. "Thanks for breakfast, Dad." Poe nods to his dad as he watches Rey plow through her second helping.

Kes watches, clearly fascinated. "Little One, no matter how many times I see it, your ability to demolish a stack of pancakes never ceases to amaze."

Rey blushes lightly, but she just keeps eating, an amused look on her face. When she's done, she tosses a few morsels to the dogs, and then she settles next to Poe on the sofa. He covers her with the blanket on the back of it, and she says, "OK, Kes, avoidance over. How are Mum and Dad?"

Poe looks expectantly at Kes. It's only been about a week, but he and Rey had been out of pocket with finals week before they went to LA. They've been out of the loop for most of the month. Poe guesses, though, that the holidays may be bumpy this year.

Kes sighs, confirming that concern. "As good as you might expect. Leia is struggling. She's trying to be positive, but she just wants Ben to be OK. She also knows he has a long road ahead. Luckily, Snoke was arrogant – his accounts were easy to find, and they're all frozen. He hasn't made threats against Ben, because pretty much all of his guys, all of his muscle? Are already in jail. And because of his level of cooperation – I mean, he gave them Snoke and the entire operation on a silver platter – Ben may end up with time served, probation, and a lifetime ban from the financial services industry or any work involving securities filings, so lighter than we even thought."

Poe nods. "OK, then what's next, Dad? Trials?"

"Yes. But not until after the holidays, and it's likely that only Snoke himself will fight to the end. Many of his lackeys have already rolled over. Honestly, the best news in all of this is that Ben may only have to testify once, against Snoke himself, probably in January or February." Kes shrugs. "But how about we talk about something else?"

Poe rolls his eyes, knowing what this is about. He takes Rey's hand, and she looks at him. He taps her ring, and she looks confused for a moment before realization crosses her face. She turns to Kes and lifts an eyebrow at him. "Just so you know, the only reasons we didn't just go to Vegas are you and Mum."

"Not Han?" Kes grins.

"Yeah, Dad," Poe deadpans, "We were fairly sure Han wouldn't give a shit."

"That's likely accurate. He may even be irritated that you didn't go to Vegas, except that it really will give Leia something to draw her focus." Kes shrugs.

"Speaking of, though," Rey smirks, "I think you owe Dad a conversation."

"Kid, please tell me you talked to Han first." Kes looks incredulous.

Poe rubs the back of his neck. "I meant to! But with Thanksgiving, and Finals, and everything with Ben and our trip to LA, I just ran out of time. And honestly?" He looks at Rey, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "It was the right time. I'd rather face Han's wrath than have waited."

Rey gives him a goofy smile, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "My brave, romantic Flyboy. Stupid. Crazy. But brave and romantic, too. I'm not going to put up with him being too hard on you, though."

"Well, mijo, you'll get your chance this afternoon. Leia asked us over for an early dinner. She missed you two, and she needs to take care of you both a bit. Me and Han are not enough for her to wrangle." He shrugs. "But you two look tired. You can grab a nap and unpack if you need to."

"Thanks, Dad." Poe stands, holding his hand out to Rey. He pulls her to her feet. "What time are we due at Leia and Han's?"

"Four. And by the way, the media stuff seems to be dying down. No reporters for a few days now. I'm glad. It really was hard for Leia to even go outside for a while without being asked questions and harassed about Ben or the Senate or the two of you, demanding to know where you were. It was pretty miserable. They even hired some private security guys – those are down to one on duty all the time, but that's from three round the clock. They were even following Luke around for a while. He went to visit an old friend down in Key West to get out of the line of fire. He may not be back until New Year's. Leia even paid for the security company to keep an eye on Tico Field for a while."

Poe nods, and he follows Rey, who has gone quiet, towards their bedroom. Rey goes in, Bee and Jet on her heels. Poe picks up Javi, lets the dog lick him a few times, and then hands the wiggling puppy to his dad. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry, Poe."

Kes looks upset with himself as he takes the dog, but Poe waves it off. "It's OK, Dad. You didn't mean to upset her. We're going to unpack and just rest for a while, all right?"

Puppy under one arm, he reaches out with the other and cups Poe's cheek in his palm. "You know it is. I'll be in my room if you need me. Give her a hug for me, OK?"

"Will do, Dad." Poe nods and ducks into the bedroom, closing the door gently.

######

As they roll up to Han and Leia's house, Rey can tell that Poe is worried about her. She'd been quiet since Kes mentioned how tough it was for Leia, Han, Luke, and even Rose and Finn for a while. After a quick shower, she'd curled up in bed with the dogs while Poe got cleaned up. After he emerged, he'd climbed in the bed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her body to his, her back to his front. Between that and the dogs snuggling up to her, she'd relaxed completely.

Trying to diminish his concern, she reaches across the car and wraps her hand around his where it rests near the SUV's gear shift. "I'm OK, Flyboy. I promise."

He lifts their hands, pressing a kiss to the back of hers. "I believe you, Sunshine." He gives her a chagrined smile. "Now the next hurdle is to talk to Han and hope that he doesn't try to kill me."

Rey chuckles. "He won't kill you. He knows how much that would piss me off, and lucky for you, he doesn't like it when I'm upset." She shoots him an impish look as he rolls his eyes.

Kes's Jeep pulls up next to them. With the increase in the dog population, it was easier to just come over in two vehicles. Rey pulls on her parka before getting out of the car, and then she goes around to get Jet out of her harness while Poe lets Bee out. Rey scoops the puppy up, letting the little ball of fur lick her cheek. As she laughs, Leia comes outside. Chewy and another tiny orange and white puffball shoot out the door, and Rey puts Jet down.

In moments, a small melee ensues, the three puppies chasing Bee around the yard near the house as Chewy trots up to Rey and leans against her legs. Rey scratches Chewy's head. "They're nuts, aren't they, old man?"

Chewy huffs in response before going to say hello to Poe. Rey walks over to the porch, hugging Leia tight. "Hi, Mum."

Han comes out, too, and Rey releases Leia and hugs him. Poe and Kes try to round up the dogs, clearly to no avail. Rey steps back from Han and catches Poe's eye. When she does, she motions to Han with her head, and Poe nods slightly. Rey then says, "Mum, Kes, let's go inside – Poe and Dad can get the dogs in."

As they go into the warm kitchen, Rey and Kes drops their parkas on hooks by the door. Rey is about to settle on a stool next to where Kes is already sitting when Leia smirks. "So, is our resident flyboy and military history expert out there trying to convince Han not to kill him?" Rey blinks in surprise, and Leia shakes her head. "Because he didn't ask Han's permission?"

She doesn't bother to ask Leia how she figured it out. She probably noticed the ring when Rey pulled off her gloves. "Maybe, but for the damned record, I don't need Dad's permission, and neither does Poe. I just suggested that he should have talked to Dad first. I'm not property, and this isn't a damned Jane Austen novel!" Rey scowls and watches Kes exchange a surprised look with Leia, probably at Rey's vehemence. "And Mum, we already talked about it this week. We want something quiet and small. You can plan it, but nothing over the top."

She spins on her heel. Leia calls, "Rey, where are you going?"

Rey spins back and shoots a look at Leia. "I'm going to tell Dad to leave my fiancé the hell alone, because I guarantee you that Dad's out there yelling at Poe right now. I was amused by the idea of that at first, but it now occurs to me that I'm not OK with it. He puts up with a lot from us, you know? He doesn't deserve it." She doesn't wait for Leia to respond, she just grabs her parka, shrugs into it, and turns and leaves.

She sees that she's right when she gets outside. Han is clearly chastising Poe, and Poe, to his credit, is standing there taking it. He looks like he's about an inch away from rolling his eyes, and Rey has to swallow back a laugh at just how not-intimidated Poe is. She guesses that once one faces down the Taliban in a fighter jet, a cranky father-in-law-to-be isn't exactly terrifying.

Rey catches Poe's eye, and, as Han waves his arms around, he winks at her. She rolls her eyes like she can see that Poe wants to, and then she marches up to Han, who still has his back to her. She gets behind him and taps him firmly on the shoulder. As he turns around, Han growls, "Dameron, what kind of father were you and what kind of kid did you raise, who wouldn't talk to a girl's dad before proposing?"

Poe frowns and furrows his brow at that, but it's Rey who has the upper hand due to the element of surprise. Han's eyes widen as he realizes that she's the one standing there. "Stand down, Solo," she snaps.

When he blinks in shock, she goes on, "Seriously, Dad? First of all, do not insult Kes. That was entirely out of bounds, especially considering the pile of shit that your own son landed us in. Second, I am a woman, not a girl. Third, enough. We get it. You think he should've talked to you first. He doesn't disagree. Now, Poe and I are getting our dogs, and we'll either go inside or go home. If you can be pleasant, it'll be the former. If you intend to keep being a jackass, it'll be the latter."

She puts her hands on her hips and stares Han down. His blue eyes narrow at her, and he stubbornly crosses his arms across his chest. She shrugs. "Fine. We're out. Come on, Flyboy. Dad, you can tell Mum we left, and you can also tell her that it's your fault."

Poe smirks, as he can clearly tell that she's calling Han's bluff. Han turns to look at him, and Rey nearly laughs out loud at the speed with which Poe's smirk disappears, replaced by a serious look. Rey knows that the serious face probably isn't hard to achieve, as she'd seen his irritation at the remark about Kes.

She's not surprised when Poe says, in a low voice, "Sir, you know how much I respect you, but regardless of whether you knew it was him tapping you on the shoulder or not, don't talk to my dad that way. You can say whatever you want to about me or to me, but you will not say anything about my father or attack him. Are we clear, sir?"

Rey comes around and links her arm through Poe's, taking his hand in hers. Han has the good grace to look sheepish. "I'm sorry, Poe. Rey's right. That was entirely out of bounds."

Poe nods. "It's OK, Han. And I said I was sorry for not talking to you first, and I meant it. But it was the right moment, and I wasn't letting it pass me by. I don't regret it."

She squeezes Poe's hand in approval. "And I'll never regret saying yes." She looks at him, and he smiles gently, leaning into her and softly kissing her lips. When she pulls back, she looks at Han. "If you're quite through, can we go inside? It's freezing out here, and I'm pretty sure Mum will already have her laptop out with a wedding project plan up on the screen. We need to be there to keep things under control, or she'll be ordering a damned ice sculpture or something."

"True. And it's going to cost me a fortune." Han winces. "Inside. Now."

They get the dogs rounded up, each of them carrying a puppy with Bee and Chewy trotting behind them. As they get to the back door, Poe snorts loudly when Rey says, "By the way, Dad, 'Porg?' What the hell?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: So, in the real SW universe, I don't know if I find it possible for Ben to be redeemed and survive – but in this AU, I think it's possible, though he'd still have some ground to make up. Oh yeah, and Leia's still a busybody – but a lovable one.**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

"No way, Mum. Not happening!" Rey looks at Leia, eyes stormy. Back at Christmas, she and Poe had asked Leia to help with the wedding plans. They're getting married in June as originally planned, but it's now February, and Leia is fare more enthusiastic about formal wedding traditions and splashy stuff than Rey will ever be, and Poe already said that whatever Rey wants is OK by him (though when she told him that she thought he should only wear a tie if he wants to, he'd kissed her quite soundly – she took that as no ties for him or for Finn, Kes, or Han).

The latest argument is about the fact that Rey and Poe don't want a church wedding. They don't mind a religious/spiritual ceremony, but they want it outside and very short and sweet. For some reason, Luke is actually an ordained minister, in some weird ancient religion no one really understands, but that's good enough for Rey and Poe. They already asked him to marry them.

Leia looks up at Rey, hands on her hips. "Rey, I already found a beautiful church."

"I don't care, Mum." Rey isn't afraid of Leia's stern "Senator Face," the look she's wearing now. They're standing in Han and Leia's kitchen on a Saturday afternoon, going over details. It's a cold, blustery February day, but Poe and Han are outside running the dogs, since the snow is minimal. Kes is home, tired from the remnants of a cold he's been fighting. "Poe and I don't want that. We want to be outside, and we already booked the Saybrook Inn when Maz heard they'd had a cancellation. You know that."

Rey shakes her head. She's glad Leia spent January distracted by the wedding plans, especially given that Ben asked her not to come to Snoke's trial. After weeks of witnesses and testimony, the jury took all of three hours to convict Snoke of all fifty-three charges against him.

The prosecutor told them it probably only took that long because of the number of charges, but Rey knows that it's also because three of the charges carried the death penalty, three conspiracy charges around planned or committed murders of Federal witnesses. One of those plans was one carried out by Hux years ago. Hux avoided the death penalty, though. He was sentenced to life without parole when he turned on Snoke. He is in a Federal prison in West Virginia now, and Snoke is on death row in Terre Haute, Indiana.

"Rey, I just want it to be beautiful and special." Leia sounds stubborn, and Rey finds herself getting a little irked.

Walking over to Leia, Rey crosses her arms over her chest. "It will be beautiful, on the grounds of the Inn, a lighthouse and the sunset in the background. If you aren't all right with that, Mum, that's going to have to be your problem. We know what we want. It's for us, Mum, not for you."

Leia looks a little hurt by that, and Rey sighs. "Mum, I know you mean well, and I love having your help on this. But you know me. I have no interest in anything overly formal – even my dress is pretty casual by wedding standards. Luke already agreed to do the ceremony, and I know it's going to be perfect by my standards and Poe's. I get that it won't be perfect by your standards, though. I'm sorry about that, but I'm not going to do something I don't want to do just to make you happy. I'll resent it, so will Poe if only because of me, and it won't make anyone happy – not even you."

"Listen to her, Mom."

Rey and Leia both look over to the door, and Rey is surprised – as she has been every time it has happened over the last month – to feel a rush of warmth at the sight of her older brother. Ben leans against the entrance to the kitchen. His jeans and sweatshirt are rumpled, his hair messy and beard and mustache almost but not quite making him look downright scruffy. The look in his eyes is actually warm and fond as he looks at his tiny mother.

He's been living here since the trial, and he will probably live here for a while, soon to move into the garage apartment. He plans to go back to school this summer, taking a few classes at the university where Rey and Poe teach. Shocking Rey, he also has been volunteering on campus at the library, helping Luke update all of their online cataloging. He'll be on probation for years to come, but he's otherwise free. Half of his money ended up frozen, and he also donated some of it to a charity that his friend Phasma had supported.

Leia opens her mouth to argue again, but Ben straightens up and ambles over to them. "Mom, it's going to be a great party. Let them do it their way. And I've seen her dress – it's perfect for Rey and perfect for what they have planned in terms of location – you know you know that. Why can't you just work your magic on great food, flowers, photographer, and music and be happy?"

Rey smiles at the mention of her dress, an ivory silk Monique Lhuillier with a nearly-athletic-looking bateau neckline. The top is fitted, the skirt flared and falling just below her knees, slightly longer in the back. It makes her feel like a very capable princess, which works for her. She appreciates the fact that Ben gets that.

Ben has been such a surprise to Rey. He's thrown himself into not being an asshole. She can't think of any other way to put it. He's also thrown himself into trying to get Poe to trust him. Poe doesn't yet, not entirely. Rey can see Poe's perspective on it. Poe has alluded to the fact that Ben was a shit to him in the past (back before she knew Poe), and then with Ben's manhandling of her that one night, Poe is still wary.

Rey knows that's part of Poe's protective side, something she took care to explain to Ben, at least as well as she could without sharing anything private. Ben was understanding, and he even said he was glad she had Poe, that she deserves to have someone care about her that much, that she deserves someone who wants to keep her safe.

Looking back and forth between them, Leia eventually sighs. "Never thought I'd see this day."

Ben shoots Rey a questioning look, and Rey shrugs. "What day, Mum?"

Leia chuckles and holds up her hands in defeat. "The day you two actually join forces to gang up on me. And you're both right, of course."

Rey laughs and relaxes, going over to Leia and hugging her, while Ben snorts and shakes his head. Rey leans away from Leia. "Mum, you know how much I appreciate your help on the wedding, right? Party planning isn't exactly in my wheelhouse."

"I do, and I'm sorry. The Saybrook Inn is lovely. I was a little irritated that Maz managed to secure it. I called them first, and they said they were booked. Maz is a witch. I swear she is." Leia furrows her brow.

Ben laughs. "Wait, my mom got out-connected? How is that even possible?"

Rey grins. "Have you met Maz?"

Ben shakes his head. Rey knows that the old Ben would have sneered at Maz and her little diner – with this Ben, though, Rey is willing to give him a shot. "Poe, Kes, and I will have to take you to her diner for breakfast tomorrow morning. Kes's cold is a lot better, and I know he wants to get out of the house."

"The food is good?" Ben lifts an eyebrow.

"Is what food good?" Poe's voice makes Rey grin. He's at the back door, shaking what must be newly-falling snow from his dark curls. He shucks his coat, taking it to the rack by the back door. A moment later, Rey hears the scrabbling of paws on wood floors, and seconds after that, Jet and Bee skid into the kitchen. They slam into Rey's legs as Poe gets to Rey's side, anticipating what's next. He has to reach out and steady Rey, who nearly loses her balance.

She leans up and presses a gentle kiss to his lips. "Maz's. Breakfast."

"Oh hell, that's the best ever. No offense, Leia." Poe shoots a charming smile at his godmother and soon-to-be mother-in-law as he shoos the dogs to Chewy's dog bed in the corner, where they settle in a heap, joined by Porg. Chewy takes one look at the dog pile, huffs, and leaves the kitchen.

Leia elegantly replies to Poe's comment with an obscene gesture that makes them all laugh. But then, she shrugs. "Rey's right. Maz's breakfasts are insanely good, especially the pancakes."

Rey nods enthusiastically, taking Poe's hand and leaning into him. "Can we take Kes and Ben tomorrow?" She'd offer to have Han and Leia come, too, but she knows Leia is still trying to stay out of the public eye.

######

Poe isn't wild about the idea of breakfast with Ben, but he can see in her eyes that this is important to her. "Of course, Sunshine. Sounds good." Rey's answering smile and the kiss she plants on him confirms his guess that this is something she's genuinely trying make work.

He wants to trust Ben, if only for Rey's sake. She seems to have capacity to forgive Ben despite what a complete asshole he was for years. Poe dealt with him a few times during the year he lived here, and all of the dealings were unpleasant, with Ben seeming to read his emotional soft spots and attack for whatever reason, something he never told Han or Leia because he felt it wasn't worth it. They were aware of one time, but didn't know that it continued. That coupled with Ben's treatment of Rey the night of the dinner here has made him wary at best. He's trying, though.

"Dameron, Ben, come in here, would you?" Han's voice comes from the other room, and Poe lets go of Rey's hand and steps away from her.

He presses a kiss to her temple. "Play nice with your mom, OK?"

She winks at him. "No promises."

He chuckles and heads out of the kitchen, Ben not far behind him. They get to the front hall, where they find Han with some boxes. Poe lifts an eyebrow. Han must notice, because he says, "Come on, grab some boxes and come with me."

Ben and Poe exchange a confused look, but they comply, each grabbing a few boxes and follow Han into the library. When they get there, Poe can see that several shelves have yellow post-it notes on them. Poe looks at Ben, who turns to Han. "What's going on, Dad?"

Han shrugs. "Your mother is helping stock a new community library. They asked for some donations of books. She spent the last few days sorting in here." Han smirks at Poe. "Don't worry, kid. She's keeping the signed copy of your book that you gave her to replace the one Rey stole."

Poe laughs. "Sir, I'm pretty sure she knows I'd give her another one if she needed me to."

Han nods, echoing the laugh. "You're right, she does." He points at the shelves. "Can you two box up the marked shelves? I hurt my back trying to help her this weekend, and I'm now forbidden to lift anything heavy."

"Of course," Poe agrees, walking over to one of the marked shelves with a box in hand.

He hears the rumble of Ben saying something to Han, and Han ambles out. Ben joins Poe at the shelves, looking down. He then looks at Poe. "Do you need me to take the low shelves? I'm guessing you can't kneel or crouch down that well with your knee?"

Poe blinks in surprise. He briefly examines Ben's face, looking for any sort of derision or mocking. After a moment, he nods slightly. "I'd appreciate that."

They're silent for a while as they methodically pack the boxes. After a few minutes, Ben says, "I'm sorry."

Poe turns to Ben, brow furrowed. "For what?"

"For being such a major dick when you were here during your recovery." Ben looks up at him. "For pretty much always being a dick." He says the last words more quietly.

Ben looks truly troubled, and Poe sighs. "It's fine, Ben. Don't worry about it. Just, you know, don't do it anymore, OK?"

Straightening back up, Ben leans his hip against the shelves. Even slouched, Ben is still a fair bit taller than Poe, and he looks down to meet Poe's eyes. "I do worry about it, though, Poe." He looks to the shelves, picking at a book spine. "I was jealous."

"Jealous? Of the guy who lost his career and very nearly his leg? Seriously?" Poe can't help but be confused and more than a little irritated.

Ben shakes his head. "No. Shit – no. That's not what I meant. I was jealous of how distraught Mom was then, but also of how I would hear her talk about you to Dad and to Uncle Luke. She never talked about me with the same kind of admiration, and it made me jealous."

"I didn't ask for that, Ben. I've always been flattered by your Mom's support, but treating me like crap because of her was pretty damned petty. You do get that I had a lot of shit going on, right? I lost everything. My mom when I was only a kid. For a long time, I lost my ability to be emotionally close to people. I lost my best friend. I lost my career and my confidence. I lost purpose. There were times that it felt like I was losing my sanity. I had to work my ass off to get where I am now." Poe levels a hard look at Ben. "If you're seeking sympathy – "

Holding his hands up, Ben says, "I'm not. I'm messing this up. I'm trying to explain – not to excuse – what was in my head. I know I fucked up, Poe, both with you, and then with Rey after Hux. I was unsympathetic. I was a complete asshole, honestly. I was so damned smug, so sure that I was superior. The truth is that I don't come close to measuring up to either of you."

"It's not a competition, Ben. No one is measuring but you." Poe is trying hard to understand.

"I get that." Ben shrugs. "I didn't before. I valued all the wrong things, you know? Being the best was the requirement. My world was devoid of nuance. I was either the best or I was worthless. There was no grey area. I still have to keep reminding myself of the value of the grey area."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say, Ben."

"I'm not sure that there's anything I need you to say." Ben looks down at his hands. "I know you don't trust me, and that's OK. I appreciate that you just want to keep Rey and my mom and dad and Uncle Luke protected." Ben's hands ball into fists. "Between Snoke having Phasma killed and then finding the file on what Hux did to Rey, I felt blind rage. Some was at them, some was at myself for failing to see it before it was too late. I know I treated Rey like shit for a lot of years – I was an angry kid whose already-minimal time with my parents was now having to be shared – but I never wanted her hurt."

Poe remains silent, though he's going to slip Ben Dr. Kalonia's number when he leaves today. He can see that Ben needs to talk to someone.

Ben sighs again. "I literally vomited when I found the file on Hux and Rey. That's when I finished packing everything up and came here. Before I found that file, it was like someone was slowly turning up the lights with a dimmer switch, but the Hux file was like a spotlight to the face." Ben looks at Poe again. "You may not believe this, but I'd kill anyone who ever tried to hurt her again."

Poe studies his face for a few moments, then he nods. "I still don't entirely trust you, Solo, and I'm not sure I ever will. But I do believe that."

"That's good enough for me, Dameron. Thank you." Ben turns back to the books, and Poe does the same. They work in silence that is at least slightly less strained than it was before.

On the way home that evening, he can feel Rey watching him as he drives the SUV carefully in the newly-fallen snow. It was only a few inches, and the roads, between the plows and how often they're treated, are mostly clear. The dogs, both in their harnesses, are asleep on the back seat. At a stoplight, he glances over at Rey. "What?"

"I saw you write something down and give it to Ben before we left. What was it?" She cocks her head at him, clearly curious.

"It was Kalonia's number." At Rey's surprised look, he explains, "Ben and I had a talk while we were boxing up the books for Han. It occurred to me that he's struggling and that talking to someone might help. I gave him Kalonia's number and said to call her or someone like her. I told him that it helps to have an objective ear."

Rey reaches over and takes his hand. "You didn't have to do that, Flyboy. But thank you. I thought you didn't trust him."

"I don't yet. Not completely." Poe's eyes go back to the road as they start moving again. "But I'm trying, Sunshine. I know that he's sorry for all of it, but it doesn't change some of what he did, the least of which is how he treated you and me both."

"You've alluded to that before but never explained. How did he treat you?"

Poe blinks a few times as he looks at the road. After a moment, he says, "I probably remember it as more than it was. I told you that Han and Leia had me move in because they were worried about me being on my own with the PTSD."

"Yes, you did." She squeezes the hand that she still holds.

"Ben came by a few times when I was there. Once was on a particularly bad day. It was early in the time I spent there, and I'd had a bad attack in the morning. Luke was there, and Leia was really upset. I was basically twitching with anxiety. I must have had a lot of nightmares the night before, but I honestly can't remember much." He pulls his hand from hers and runs it through his hair before gripping the wheel with it.

He can sense it when Rey shifts in her seat. "Poe you don't have to – "

Poe shakes his head and goes on, "Ben surprised us, storming into the house. It scared the ever-loving shit out of me. I was down on the floor already – my tendency was to drop wherever I was, which was hell on my knee – my back to the wall, and when Ben came in yelling, I vaguely remember scooting backwards towards the corner to get away from it. He seemed to see the vulnerability, because he laughed and started mocking me – where's the brave soldier, no wonder your girl got killed, can't believe a coward like you saved my mother, all of that kind of shit."

"What?" Rey sits up straight in the seat, and Poe pulls into a parking lot, putting the car in park.

Poe looks at her. "Yeah. Luke literally grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and dragged him out, but I had another panic attack from all the yelling and the commotion. I don't remember anything else from that day. I woke up at about 4 a.m. the next day in my bed, Leia in a chair next to it. I could see that she'd been crying. She told me that I'd passed out after the attack, that Han and Luke are the ones who got me into bed. That's why I don't remember anything. I usually don't remember much from my panic attacks outside of having them and images. After that, I mostly avoided Ben, and I'm pretty sure Han and Leia kept us separated. But I did run into him a few times – he was always pretty derisive. He was, his own words today when he apologized, a major dick."

That makes Rey snort, but she turns serious quickly. "No wonder you aren't a fan. We don't have to take him to Maz's tomorrow. I didn't realize, Poe. I'm sorry."

"It really is OK, Sunshine. I don't mind taking him. It'll be kind of fun to watch Maz dismantle him." He gives her a crooked smile. "He apologized, and I'm pretty sure it was sincere. I know all of this, everything, has completely shattered his worldview. I think he needs a lot of help, which is why I gave him Kalonia's number. Your mom means well, but he needs someone who will be objective. I'm willing to give him a chance to redeem himself, if only because I know it's important to you, Leia, and Han. He's also, like it or not, going to be my brother-in-law soon."

"You're a damned good person, Poe Dameron. Did you know that?" She leans across the console, kissing his cheek.

He turns his head, slips his hand into her hair, and kisses her, deepening the kiss quickly. A moment later, an indignant whine from the back seat makes them pull apart. They pull apart, laughing as they look back and see Jet standing on the back seat, eyeing them. She barks, and Bee nudges her with his snout. She huffs and sits back, nuzzling close to the larger dog, who gives Poe a put-upon look.

A ding from Rey's phone makes her look down. "Stormy and Rose want to know if we want to do a movie night at ours."

Poe puts the car in gear, and they get back on the road. "What movie?"

"Mel Brooks marathon." Rey snorts. "Finn says we can start with History of the World for you."

Poe laughs out loud. "Tell them to bring popcorn. We're out after last month's Lord of the Rings marathon." He can tell that she's responding to the text, and he adds, "And text Dad to warn him, too, OK? He's going to make us watch Young Frankenstein. You know that, right?"

Rey grins. "Works for me."

######

It's well after midnight when Rey bids goodnight to Rose and Finn. They're sleeping in the third bedroom, a smaller space than the guest room where Kes is still staying for now, with only a twin-sized daybed in it. Kes protested that it's too small and offered to switch for the night, but Finn just grinned and noted that Rose is tiny and that it was fine.

They'd had a blast tonight, even with Kes there. He's so much fun, and as much as Rey adores Han and loved Ben Kenobi, it's different with Kes. She knows that he's the dad who'd have been at every game, every school play. That's just who he is.

She loves having him here, and last month, on his birthday, they surprised him with the half-acre of land attached to Poe's, bought from Poe's neighbor, and the name of a friend of Han's who can build the house for Kes. It's almost completely planned and blue-printed, a nice two bedroom cabin that will be a two-minute walk from his door to Poe and Rey's.

Rey turns out the remaining lights. Ben will get here tomorrow at 8:30 to go to breakfast at Maz's, so Rey sets her phone to go off at 7:45. Poe called Maz, as Finn and Rose are going to also join them for breakfast and he knows Maz will set aside a big table for them.

She heads to their bedroom, and she grins to find Poe has nodded off while trying to read, curled up on his left side with his tablet still lit up on the bed next to him. The dogs are on their dog bed by the window, also sound asleep. She goes to the bathroom and changes into some sweats and a long-sleeved t-shirt, and, after washing her face and brushing her teeth, she flips off the light and uses the light of his tablet to get to the bed without tripping over anything.

She plugs her phone in, and she grabs his iPad, putting it on the nightstand. Despite moving carefully, he starts awake when she slides into the bed under the pile of blankets. It's hot to him, so he just wears sleep pants and is shirtless as usual. He blinks at her, giving her a sleepy smile. "Sorry, I tried to stay awake."

She leans in and kisses him. "It's OK."

He reaches for her after she gets on her side, and he wraps his arms around her under her shirt, pulling her flush to him. He kisses her in a way that is clearly meant to start something, and she pulls back, giggling. "You sure you have this in you, Flyboy? You were just sound asleep."

He reaches down, and she lets him pull her shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor. Then, in a quick move, he rolls her so that she's on her back, him hovering over her on his forearms. He grins in the soft light from the full moon outside. "Power nap."

She laughs, and she runs her hands down his bare back and slides them to his hips, pushing his sleep pants down his legs. She then slips her sweats off even as he leans down and sucks gently at the spot below her ear that drives her crazy.

She'd meant to tell him about the small skirmish with Leia over the wedding location, to talk to him more about Ben, but those thoughts fade quickly as his hands start to wander. She tilts her hips up into his, and he inhales sharply against her neck. Moments later, they're lost in each other. Her last coherent thought for a while is that wedding plans and angsty older brothers can wait.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: So, yeah, I'm awful. I just looked, and I seriously had no idea I hadn't updated this since last fall! Penultimate chapter here. One to go. Thanks to anyone who bothers to read this!**

 **Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

Standing with Poe in the professor section at graduation as the graduates file in, Rey in her Ph.D. regalia from Cal Tech with orange edges for her Engineering degree, Poe in his from Texas A&M edged in white for his History degree, Rey can't help but grin. It's late May, and this is Rey's first large graduation as a professor. It's silly and overdone, but their school lets them wear their own regalia, something Rey loves. Kes had even made them pose for photos in their outfits before they all left the house this morning, making Poe grumble about how it wasn't prom night.

As for pictures, Rey did love it when they did, at Leia's insistence, engagement photos the month prior. There is one that Rey loves more than all of the cheesy, lovey-dovey posed versions. It was a pure candid, her leaning against Shara's plane (of course) with Poe looking at her fondly – they were both amused by something, neither of them facing the camera. They're not even touching, but even Ben deemed the picture as "magic." Leia and Han, Kes, and she and Poe all have framed versions of it at home, and she and Poe also both have smaller ones on their desks at work.

The wedding is just over a month away, they broke ground on Kes's new house in April, and Rey is struck by how weirdly on track life seems right now. Ben is also doing better. He started seeing Dr. Kalonia, too, and the change in him is remarkable. Even Poe admits that he's impressed. Rey can see that Poe is still wary, though.

Even though she doesn't show it much, she is too. Poe's story about how Ben had treated him bothered Rey for a while. She did her best to hide it, and she thinks she was mostly successful. The only people who picked up on it, as far as she can tell, were Poe (who repeatedly insisted that it was fine and she should let it go), Leia, and Luke.

Leia didn't say anything else about it after raising it one time; that one time, Rey shot her down soundly, explaining that she'd gotten Poe to tell her about what happened between him and Ben. Leia didn't even try to defend it or explain it away – she'd just nodded and let it go.

Rey was grateful for that. Luke, on the other hand and in a role-reversal, was a little pushier about it. He'd called her on it back in early April. After she'd been a little short with Ben on something regarding Poe, a gentle quip he'd made in an attempt at humor, Luke had asked her if she wanted to take the dogs out with him. She'd agreed, and as they went out and watched the dogs run around the area in front of Han and Leia's house, Luke had said, "Poe told you about what happened between him and Ben."

It hadn't been phrased as a question, but Rey had crossed her arms across her chest and said, "He did."

Luke had sighed. "Little One, Poe has let it go. I can see that in Poe. He has. He's still wary and probably always will be, but you need to let this be between them."

"It's not that simple, Uncle Luke, and I think you probably know that. I'm glad Poe is dealing with it, but do you not understand what I went through with Ben? I thought you did?" She'd challenged him directly.

"Of course I understand, Rey. But what does that have to do with anything?" Luke had looked genuinely puzzled.

"I want to believe that Ben is better, Uncle Luke. The way he treated me – it was shitty, but he was a kid who already resented how busy his parents were. I was just another distraction. That's not an excuse, but it's at least an explanation." Luke had nodded, and Rey'd gone on, "But with Poe, he told me that Ben said it was out of jealousy of Leia's admiration among other things. It's bullshit. He wasn't a sullen child then. He was a grown man, and he treated Poe horribly out of nothing but cruelty, to punish him for a completely non-existent sin. You have to see that it was different. Understandable motivation of a child does not translate to similarly understandable motivation for an adult."

After a few moments of silence, Luke had nodded again. "I never looked at it that way, Little One. You should still give him a chance, though."

"I am." She'd leveled a hard look at Luke. "Giving him a chance is precisely what I'm doing. But he has a hell of a lot of ground to make up, and he doesn't get to say a word about Poe unless it's positive. He hasn't earned that right, not even for teasing. A few months of being on good behavior doesn't make up for direct, intentional cruelty."

Luke had gone silent then, and Rey had known that she'd made her point. She jumps a moment later when someone squeezes her hand. She looks up, startled, to see Poe's part-worried, part-amused eyes. He softly asks, "You OK, Sunshine?"

She nods. "I am. Sorry." She shrugs and squeezes his hand back.

The music for the graduates' entry ends, and she and Poe take their seats along with the rest of the professors. She keeps her hand in his, twining their fingers together. He squeezes her hand again as the speeches begin, the Dean of the university and a few others before the commencement address. When the speaker takes the stage, she catches Rey's eye and winks. Rey just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

Poe leans down to her and whispers, "You know, these kids are all in awe of your mom. Little do they know that she cries at schmaltzy commercials."

Rey snorts and gives him an admonishing look. "Behave."

"Yes ma'am." He grins, and he turns his attention to Leia, also dressed in a cap and gown, with colors from her own alma mater.

X

Despite joking with Rey a moment ago, Poe can't help but be impressed by the way Leia can still command the attention of an entire crowd when she speaks. She talks to the graduates and their families about the importance of integrity and about how we all make mistakes, and then she gets quiet, acknowledging that it's not always simple or straightforward.

She goes on to point out that life is largely about nuance and gray areas, and that the black and white is the easy part. He can't disagree with her there. Shifting a little closer to Rey, he thinks back to his time in Afghanistan. He still marvels that he somehow managed to survive that time, a time riddled with gray. The black and white, pointing him at an enemy or giving him assigned people to protect, that had been the easy part, or so he'd thought.

Over time, it had all faded into a pattern of gray, not that he'd doubted his assignments, but he'd begun to feel like it was a hopeless situation that would never be more than a battle of attrition. He can look back now and see that even if he hadn't been shot down and injured, he probably was due to come home anyway. He also sees that he really should've asked for leave after Jess, regardless of the consequences that might've arisen. It took him a long time to acknowledge that, a lot of hours talking with Luke, Rey, and eventually Kalonia getting him there.

Poe blinks when the crowd erupts in applause. He goes to rake his free hand through his hair, but he stops himself because of the hat on his head. The assembled audience stands to cheer for Leia, and he can't help but grin. Thinking of Rey's tattoo, it occurs to him that Leia is a little like a phoenix rising from the ashes. She has no intention of running for office again, but she's in demand on the speaking circuit in addition to becoming a senior adviser to Senator Erso-Andor, her former protégé and successor.

They sit again, keeping their seats until Finn's name is called to receive his diploma. As he crosses the dais and Leia herself hands him his diploma, Rey and Poe stand and cheer loudly. From the crowd, they hear the same from Finn's foster family, Rose, and Kes, the latter who has long since basically adopted not only Rey but also Finn and Rose. He likes to joke that Shara would be amused that he now appears to have four kids instead of one.

A couple of hours later, Poe is helping Kes with the grill back at Poe's house. Rose, Rey, and Finn are inside, and Maz is in there as well, bossing all of them around the kitchen. Leia, Han, and Luke are all coming over, as soon as Leia can escape campus and the post-graduation receptions she had to attend. It's possible that they're bringing Ben as well, and Poe is surprised that he doesn't really mind.

Javi, Jet, and Bee are tussling out in the grass, Bee easily squashing the two growing puppies when they begin to annoy him. Finn's foster family is coming over later, too, and Poe can't help but grin at the thought of his formerly-quiet, solitary haven here and what it has become lately. As much as the quiet was what he needed four years ago, he's happy with how things have changed.

Kes goes inside to get a pair of tongs for the steaks, vegetables, and seafood that he's grilling, leaving Poe alone on the deck. Or so he thought. A moment later, he starts a bit when a pair of familiar arms wrap around his waist. Rey leans into his back, pressing herself to him and dropping a kiss to the exposed skin of his neck. In a role-reversal from earlier, she says, "Now you're the one a million miles away, Flyboy. You OK?"

He turns in her arms and kisses her before hugging her close. She is, by far, the best change of all, his dad's presence, for certain, being a close second. "Yeah, Sunshine. I'm good. I've just been thinking about how much things have changed in less than a year."

"What did you do after graduation last May?" She leans away and cocks her head at him. They'd both missed the December graduation because they'd been in California, so she doesn't really have a frame of reference. They won't always have a get-together like this though; this is mainly to celebrate Finn's graduation.

He shrugs. "Came home, changed, and went kayaking with Bee. I probably went and grabbed dinner at the counter at Maz's after."

They hear a sound and turn, seeing the small woman standing there with tablecloths for the folding tables they've put up on the deck. "You did. Flirted with Ellie," Maz refers to one of the waitresses, a sixty-six year-old grandmother of three, "And went home. So, a normal Saturday night for you back then, Pretty Boy."

He breaks away from Rey, chuckling. Rey laughs, too, poking him in the side. "Heartbreaker."

He rolls his eyes and goes over to Maz, taking the tablecloths from her. With Rey's help, they get the tables covered quickly, Maz following behind them with condiments, silverware, and plates to set the tables and to weigh down the tablecloths. "He has all my waitresses wrapped around his little finger, engaged to you or not, Mighty Girl."

Even as Poe rolls his eyes again, Rey smirks and replies, "Works for me. They give us extra bacon all the time."

"Who do you think lets them get away with it?" Maz shoots back.

Rey tucks herself back into Poe's side. "You, because he has you wrapped around his little finger, too."

Maz blinks in surprise, and Poe laughs out loud when she lifts an eyebrow at Rey and says, "Touché, Mighty Girl. Well played."

As Maz heads back inside, Poe turns towards Rey, picks her up and spins her around as she laughs. Then, he sets her down and kisses her soundly. When he pulls back he says, "Holy shit, I've never seen anyone get the best of Maz like that. If we weren't already engaged, I'd propose on the spot."

Rey smiles at him, clearly amused by his response, her eyes warm with fondness. She reaches up and brushes his hair out of his eyes. "And I'd say yes again."

Kes comes back outside then, laughing. "What the hell did you two do to Maz? She actually looked ruffled." Rey and Poe just laugh themselves, and they turn to finish the tablecloths while Kes tends the grill.

X

Rey stares at the reflection of herself in the mirror of the hotel room where she's getting ready for the wedding. Her dress is perfectly fitted, her makeup subtle, and her hair is in soft curls to her shoulders with flowers woven into it instead of a veil. She nervously smooths down the top of her dress and twirls a little, the ivory silk skirt flaring out as she catches a glimpse of the racerback cut of the bodice. She's a little fidgety, ready to see Poe, uneasy after not seeing him since the night before.

She looks down, checking herself over one last time. Her shoes are pretty, iridescent pearlized ivory flats. Leia had protested that, but Rey hates heels, and the wedding is outside. She hates trying to navigate grassy areas in heels.

Leia walks in at that moment, beautiful in a new navy blue tea length silk dress, and she looks askance at Rey's feet. Rey rolls her eyes and smiles at Leia. "Just be glad I didn't go with some nice, new Converse, Mum. Poe even offered to buy me some. I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that he actually did buy them. I fully intend to wear them for the reception."

Leia laughs and shakes her head. "Of course you do." Blinking, Leia then tears up a little. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."

Rey goes over to Leia and leans down to hug her. "Thanks, Mum. So do you."

Rose, a bridesmaid, comes in behind Leia. Her dress is very similar to Leia's and is navy blue silk as well, coordinating with Leia's dress. "You really do look beautiful, Rey, and I love our dresses. You look great too, Senator."

Leia leans over and kisses Rose's cheek. "You're sweet, Rose, and please, I've asked you to call me Leia, my fellow bridesmaid."

Rose giggles at that, and Rey grins as Rose curtsies slightly and replies, "Of course, Senator Leia."

Leia rolls her eyes, but Rey can see that it's affectionate. The notion of Leia as Rey's Matron of Honor had been something Leia fought at first, but Rey had been adamant. Poe had agreed, and in turn, Kes was asked to be the Best Man, with Finn as the second groomsman. When Leia kept protesting, Rey had simply said, "Mum, you're the one person who has never failed to stand beside me. It won't be right if you don't stand beside me when I marry Poe."

That had worked. Rey is very happy with their wedding party. There will be more guests than they'd really wanted, but the invite list was the one place where Rey and Poe agreed to indulge Leia. So, there will be nearly two hundred people at the ceremony and reception, including friends of Poe's from the Academy and the Air Force and friends of Rey's from college and graduate school. She'd spent some time with her former roommate, the one who had called 911 for her, last night. The woman is married herself now and pregnant with her first child, and Rey had thanked her repeatedly until she just hugged Rey and said that she was glad to be here and see that Rey is OK.

"You ladies ready? I'm sure you'll all be the prettiest women in the place today." The three women turn to see Han standing there, cocky grin on his face that reminds Rey of how he was when Rey came to live with him and Leia almost twenty-five years ago. He's in the clothes requested by Poe, new dark tan dress pants, white dress shirt, and navy jacket; as promised, no tie. That was another battle Leia lost, but she'd done so gracefully, acknowledging that she'd hate having to wear a tie too.

Rey nods, and Leia and Rose both say yes as well. Taking Han's offered arm. "Charming, Dad." She kisses his cheek. "Did you see Poe? Is he nervous?" She'd seen Poe the night before at the rehearsal, but at Leia and Han's insistence, they'd stayed in separate rooms last night. Rey hadn't liked it at all, and she'd known that Poe hadn't either. She's spent every night with him since that first night at his house. She's still uneasy, truly anxious to see him again.

Han chuckles. "Not about the wedding, but he's on edge and snapping at everyone, even Kes. I'd say the thing he's perturbed about is the fact that we made the two of you not share a room last night."

His smile fades when Rey frowns and releases his arm to wrap her arms around her waist, her shoulders tense. "We haven't really been apart since the night of that disastrous dinner when you asked him to take me home with him. I didn't like not being with him last night. I just," Rey pauses, trying to find the right words before going on quietly, "Sleep easier with him there. Not so many nightmares."

They all stop walking, and Han and Leia both look surprised and more than a little remorseful. Rose seems to sense that they need a moment, slipping ahead of them, saying she's going to get their bouquets ready. Once Rose is gone, Leia says, "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Why didn't either of you say something?"

"No, I'm sorry. We both thought it wasn't a hill worth dying on." She shrugs and hugs herself even tighter. "We probably were wrong about that. I'm really ready to see him right now." She blinks rapidly, her eyes tearing up. She takes a deep breath, looks down, and laughs self-consciously. "We should probably tell Dr. Kalonia about this. She's going to have a field day. It's alarmingly hyperdependent."

To Rey's surprise, Han is the one to gently place a hand on her arm and say, "Little One, there is nothing wrong with needing someone. There is nothing wrong with it at all. Like your mom said, I'm really sorry. We should have known that it might upset the two of you. You've been nearly inseparable since the first week." He uses two fingers under her chin to gently tip her face up to look at him. "You have nothing to apologize for, nothing to be embarrassed about."

Rey feels Leia's hand rubbing her back even as Han carefully hugs her to him. Relaxing into the embrace, Rey is still careful not to smudge her makeup on his jacket. Leia continues to gently rub her back, and they stand there in silence for a short time until they move apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat. They turn to see Rose standing there with Rey's bouquet of white roses and blue hydrangeas in one hand and hers and Leia's smaller white rose bouquets in the other.

She comes up to Rey, holding out the large bouquet. She smiles kindly, and it occurs to Rey that Rose, who is alone except for Finn, completely understands. Rey accepts the flowers, and Rose winks and says, "He wants to see you as badly as you want to see him. He's seriously like a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs right now. An angry, wet long-tailed cat. So, let's get this show on the road before he kills someone."

X

Poe stands with Kes and Finn near the arbor set up outside for the wedding. Luke is with them, ready to officiate the service that is about to start. Poe is a ball of nerves, unable to settle down. He has been cranky and irritable all morning, and he knows it. He recognized too late last night that he wasn't really OK without Rey nearby at night. He fought the urge to text her all night, and when he did finally fall asleep, it was fitful.

His dad figured out what was wrong a few minutes ago, when Rose sent a message up via one of the ushers, a professor and friend from the university, that they were coming. When Poe's anxiety ratcheted down slightly, his dad immediately noticed. He squeezed Poe's shoulder lightly and said, "Only a few more minutes, Mijo. Then you'll see her. You're OK, and she's safe with Leia and Han."

Exhaling through his nose, Poe nods slightly. Picking up on the remaining anxiety, Luke murmurs, "Breathe, kid. Just breathe."

Poe nods again, grateful for the presence of both his dad and Luke. He keeps his eyes trained on the door from the building where he knows they'll emerge, he doesn't even blink when the soft music starts and the doors open. Rose is first, shooting Poe a smile and nod before looking fondly at Finn. Leia steps out next, managing to look downright regal as she moves down the aisle. He can hear cameras clicking as she walks by, and he has to force himself not to roll his eyes.

When Leia gets to him, she reaches out and squeezes his hand. He squeezes back, but his eyes don't leave the door. The minute Rey and Han appear, his eyes lock on Rey's. He feels the tension in his body finally start to lessen, and he can see that she had similar tension in her shoulders which relax almost immediately. As Rey and Han move towards the front, Poe keeps his eyes on Rey's; he can see anxiety in hers, too, though it's fading. He still chastises himself for not pushing back on Leia and Han last night.

By the time Rey and Han get to Poe, he's reaching for her. The last of his anxiety and tension drains away the moment he has her hand in his, and he can sense the same in her. He pulls her close for a brief moment, and Rey just whispers, "Oh my God, we are idiots."

He snorts as she steps back, and pushes a piece of her hair out of her eyes. "No arguments here, Sunshine."

She clings to his hand like a lifeline, and he does the same. They turn to Luke, who is looking on, amusement clear in his eyes. Before he starts the official ceremony, he makes them both laugh softly by saying, "You two good?"

Poe rolls his eyes, and Rey shushes him good-naturedly. After that, it's all a blur to Poe. There are only two clear moments to him in the ceremony; one is when he turns to his dad for Kes to hand him his mother's ring, something they'd agreed felt right. The other is turning back to Rey and sliding the ring on her finger. Otherwise, between "You two good," and "Kiss her, Captain," he can't remember a thing.

And kiss her, Poe does. He pulls her close and kisses her like no one else is there, so much so that she laughs a little and Han growls out, "Save it for the honeymoon."

After that, they retreat back inside, the crowd standing and cheering behind them. He drags her (though she doesn't resist at all) to the room where he got dressed, and the moment they're inside, he pulls her into a fierce hug. She holds him as tight as he holds her, and she mutters, "I told Mum and Dad that Kalonia's going to have a field day with us over this."

After a few minutes, they separate. He sees that he wrinkled her dress, so he gently smooths the skirt and bodice down for her. When he's done, he looks her up and down. "You are stunning, Sunshine."

She reaches up and ruffles his hair. "You clean up well, too, Flyboy."

He grins. "No matter what Kalonia says, I'm not being apart from you all night for a long time, OK, Sunshine?" She nods quickly, grinning back. He then leans down, grabbing a box off of the dresser in the room. "I got these made for you. I hope you like them."

He hands her the box, and she opens it, squealing and clapping her hands when she pulls out a pair of ivory lace-embellished Converse with ribbon laces. "I told Mum that you probably got me some, but these are wonderful." She leans in and kisses him. "Thank you, Flyboy."

His phone dings, and he looks down at his gift from her, a new dive watch that Ben, unbelievably, helped her choose. When she looks puzzled, he kisses her and says, "I asked Dad give us ten minutes or so alone and then text. Put your new shoes on, Cinderella, the party awaits."

 **So, yes, mea culpa again. I promise I won't make you wait eight months for the Epilogue...**


End file.
